At any time of the year, one can begin to garden.

Tasks and projects change with the seasons, but there’s always something to do.

Right now, some folks have just sown the seeds of some kinds of begonias. Not everybody needs to do this, as plant nurseries and garden centers will have them for sale, blooming and ready to plant, in real springtime.

(Note: begonia seed-starting is picky; seeds of bedding-out varieties are fine as dust. When seeds are tiny, one strews them on top of the soil in a small flat because they need light to germinate, or sprout.)

Look for seed catalogs. Maybe the library has a collection on display? Current garden magazines carry ads for such catalogs or seed or nursery lists.

Maine’s nurseries grow plants just right for our climate. (The only fact to remember: anyone gardening in northern counties may find some plants suitable for southern Maine won’t work in cooler areas. The University of Maine Cooperative Extension (the citizen arm of this institution) has an office in almost every county, staffed with informed people ready to answer gardening, homemaking, forestry and soil questions. We live in Lincoln County, sharing an office with neighboring Knox County. The office is at 477 Manktown Road off Route 1 in Waldoboro, and across the street from the Medomak Valley High School.

Most valuable are the friendly Master Gardeners, trained by Extension educators. They’re local and if they have no ready answer to a question, they’ll find one.

This season, botanical gardens and arboreta are beginning to offer classes in seed-starting, pruning, care of shrubs and trees and garden design. Or learn how to garden with children.

In a few weeks, there will be day-long workshops. Garden clubs often welcome people who want to learn.

Right now, get outdoors and check out the size and shape of the back yard. Is it hilly? Flat? Sandy or rocky — or sunken and soggy? Where are the trees or shrubs? Buried utility lines, wires or pipes?

Relish that trip outside; then, indoors, write down everything you can think of, along with a list of questions. No question is too dumb to ask. That’s a way to begin learning.

Ready, set, go!