Priscilla plans to add raspberry plants to her new garden.

Visions of raspberry jam, raspberry shortcake, raspberry-on-breakfast-cereal fuel her dreams. Where should she begin?

Scout the back yard for the sunniest spot. She will need space for the plants to thrive without crowding. They should have easy drainage: although raspberry roots want moisture, they don’t want soggy soil.

Good soil, laced with organic matter, should hold that moisture without letting the roots drown or rot. Since there’s no compost pile, she should look for a good source of compost to mix with the soil until she can build and age her own trove of old organic matter.

Because that sunny spot can be near a fence, that’s where her raspberries will go. She should plan for plenty of air circulation in the area.

Friends have offered plants growing wild and free, from the edge of woods. Priscilla was told not to accept those because of the real possibility of viruses and disease, infecting healthy plants. Even innocent gifts from other people’s gardens could be affected.

(Because of such possibilities, some growers defend their raspberries by caging them and even shrouding them with shading cloth.)

It’s a little late to plant some kinds of raspberries this year, but some of Maine’s best nurseries may still offer dormant plants, with first-year canes.

How does one tell the difference between first-year and second-year canes? The younger canes have green stems; second-year, now spent and ready to be cut to the ground, have thin, brown bark.

Raspberry fruits are so tender that they are sold in shallow boxes, so as not to squash the under layers. Now, one understands why these delicious fruits cost more in the grocery store.

Priscilla knows why she wants to grow these delectable fruits. Once the raspberries are planted, their roots will be watered well, now and for at least 10 days as they’re settled in the ground.

The University of Maine’s Cooperative Extension offers more. Stop by its Knox-Lincoln office on Manktown Road, Waldoboro for further information.