At the first sign of the ground thawing in the spring, gardeners rush outside to work in their flowerbeds or vegetable gardens. Though considered "work" by many, to a gardener, there's nothing more relaxing than piddling around in the dirt and working with tender new plants.

At the National Gardening Association's Easy Seed-Starting Guide, you can "get your garden off to a good start" with their step-by-step instructions and tips from the pros. Learn the germination temperature, the number of days to germinate, plant spacing, and the amount of sunlight required. Access the National Gardening Magazine to learn about new vegetables, fruit, or roses for 1998.

By far, one of the best gardening sites on the Web is GardenGuides, where you'll discover anything and everything "green." Learn how to prepare herbs, how to force bulbs, and how to grow gardens in a container.

At Pathfinder's Virtual Garden, you can click on Armchair Gardener for the best gardening articles from publications such as SOUTHERN LIVING or SUNSET magazines. If you don't have a lot of time for gardening, maybe the Weekend Projects section would be perfect for you, where you can access categories such as Instant Gardening, Gardening Basics, or Backyard Builder.

Typical of their outstanding magazine, Better Homes & Gardens offers a Gardening Home Page full of helpful features such as Gardening Maps, where you can check out the most detailed plant hardiness maps on the Internet.

Are you having problems with your garden? Visit the no-nonsense Problem Identification Aids and see if you can find a solution. Categories are flowers, ground covers, shrubs, and trees.

If you're interested in flowers, Flowerbase is the place for you. The database offers over 7,000 pictures of flowers, plants, and garden plants.

Rose gardeners need to stop by the Rose Resource page. Find the perfect award-winning rose for your garden, or learn rose gardening tips.

We'll close with a comprehensive listing of gardening sites, Internet Gardening, where you'll find links to publications, other gardeners, reference sites, gardening discussion groups, and a listing of impressive gardens to visit. If you travel, be sure to click on the Calendar of Garden Events to learn of gardening happenings in areas where you might visit.

Robin Nobles is a freelance writer who can be reached at robinnobles@robinsnest.com.

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