People new to gardening ask the darndest questions: about how seeds work, about growing the perfect tomato, about waging war with insects (many of them beneficial).

No question is a bad question, though, since good gardening requires a never-ending supply of information. Beginners can find it by talking with neighborhood gardeners, nurseries, extension agents or by looking online.

“I often get questions dealing with garden problems like, ‘I planted my winter squash in the winter so why didn’t they grow?’” said Rose Marie Nichols McGee, owner of Nichols Garden Nursery in Albany, Ore. That one developed into a long conversation about plant hardiness.