With the early spring in Maine, it's hard not to be seduced into premature gardening.  It may be warm out and the ground may be thawed, I just caution that traditionally Memorial Day weekend is usually the best time to plant annuals as there is always a danger of a frost or, sadly enough, a freak April snow storm.  Sometimes a hardy annual (such as a pansy) will do just fine if planted early, but usually the more delicate plants (such as vegetable seedlings) are better off inside at night until late May.

I admire those gardeners who dedicate themselves to starting seedlings each year in the anticipation of having a large vegetable garden.  Those of us with limited space, indoors and outdoors, and limited patience for seed starting, buy already started healthy plants at a local nursery or farmers' markets.  Since we only have room to grow about 4 cucumber plants and an equal number of tomato plants, I don't need to spend very much to get great quality seedlings.  I've tried other vegetables (miniature pumpkins, leeks, carrots, string beans, and peppers) but have found that cucumbers and cherry tomatoes consistently perform well and the others not so much.

It's good to experiment and find out what does well for you and your yard.  Don't mind that your neighbor seems to grow fabulous beefsteak tomatoes or large red peppers, sometimes success is based on the amount and time of sunlight in your garden, the soil quality, or other factors that you just can't decipher.  For example, doronicum (leopard's bane) is in all the basic gardening books as an easy plant to grow.  My father can't kill it in his yard (which is only about one mile from mine).  He has given me seedling after seedling.  For some reason, I can't keep it alive.  I grow plenty of other plants that thrive under conditions that are textbook perfect for doronicum (and I even think I've seen it along deserted stretches of highway) but it will not grow for me.  I accepted defeat and enjoy it in other people's yards.

And I would recommend, if you are just starting out, looking in your neighbors' yards to see what is growing and doing well.  Look at different times of the year to see what is in bloom and if you like the shape, texture, color, and overall look of the plants.  If you don't know the name of the plant you like, buy an inexpensive book (Goodwill and library sales are good sources) that has photos of common plants and basic information.  Once you learn a few basics, you can add to your gardening library by looking for more complex books that discuss how to create a master plan for your yard and how to implement design techniques.  Over the course of the last 20 years I've accumulated quite a few gardening books, some more useful than others.

For instance, I started off with the Better Homes and Gardens New Complete Guide to Gardening, which is a good, very basic guide for a beginner, and have ended with Taylor's Master Guide to Landscaping, which is hands down my favorite gardening book as the detail is exceptional.  I have many other books in between those, and you will find, if interested, each book gives a different perspective or different advice and it's all useful.

With the snow melted and the crocuses blooming, I like to walk my yard and play a simple memory game, as in "I wonder what I planted there?  And there?".  I can usually remember after a bit, once I've examined the spent leaves and any dead blooms I forgot to trim.  Although I have been known to accidentally pull out a desirable seedling mistaking it for a weed.  If you have the time and inclination, you can certainly buy fancy plant markers and have your yard resemble a pretty little botanical garden.  But working around those markers can be cumbersome and if you use the kind that you write on with a marker, the writing will fade over a winter and be illegible.  If you absolutely need to know what is planted where in the spring, it may be more beneficial to make a sketch of your yard and map out where you put your plants.  I, personally, am pleased by what survived the winter and don't want to be reminded if something didn't make it.