May gardening with annuals
There's a time-honored piece of advice about May planting: Wait until after Mother's Day to put annuals in the garden.
The reason? Mother's Day usually occurs in the second half of May, and in most growing zones that's safely after the last danger of frost or surprise freezing temperatures.
Of course, there's always the odd late-spring cold snap, but most often, the Mother's Day guideline works. Just keep in mind that most transplants from the nursery, or from seed started indoors, won't like a blast of cold. If it seems too cool in your region, wait a week or two. Ditto if there's a late frost expected.
Remember to check the
USDA's growing zones map and information to be certain of the safe range of planting times for May in your area.
One of the most important things to remember for new plants is the light they will need to grow and flower the best. Don’t put a sun-loving marigold in deep shade or a shade-loving impatiens in day-long, full sun.
Here are some sunny and shady planting suggestions for flowerbeds, planters, window boxes or wherever you want a bit of sparkle in the landscape. Try any other kinds you see at the nursery, besides these. Just make note of their sun-shade needs and plant accordingly.
- And if you're transplanting seeds started indoors six to eight weeks ago, refer back to the seed packets for the same sunny-shady-watering requirements of those plants.
- For shade and partial-shade , try these plants:
Coleus |
Fern |
Fuschia |
Impatiens |
Lobelia |
Nierembergia |
Polka-Dot Plant |
Tuberous Begonia |
Wax Begonia |
- For sun and partial sun, try these plants:
Alyssum |
Ageratum |
Dwarf Marigold |
Geranium |
Lantana |
Nasturtium |
Petunia |
Portulaca |
Verbena |
A few additional notes for May annuals:
 - Here's a basic how-to-transplant summary: Use a hand spade to dig a hole large enough and deep enough to accommodate the soil contained in the pot. Turn the pot upside down, keeping one hand over the soil, with fingers placed around the stem of the plant. Gently shake until the plant and soil ball fall loose. Place the plant, with soil, into the hole, keeping the stem at the same soil level it was in the pot. Then, water deeply, making sure the soil for six inches around the new plant is moist.
- Apply a 2- to 4-inch layer of mulch around new transplants, but keep mulch from suffocating the plant by keeping about an inch of space open around the base. Mulch helps the soil retain moisture, especially during hot summer months, and also helps prevent weed growth.
- Don't let new transplants dry out! Be sure to keep the soil moist for at least the first week, while the transplants become accustomed to their new home. Check for soil dryness at least every other day, and water if the soil looks or feels dry. If the plants are wilting, water immediately! They should bounce right back. Soil should be kept moist - but not muddy. Covering the soil with mulch will help it retain moisture.
- To further prevent weeds, and before applying mulch, sprinkle the top of the soil with a weed preventer, such as Preen.
- Continue feeding all annuals, but especially flowering ones, every two weeks with water soluble plant food. Mix it into a watering can or use a hose-end sprayer to cover a large area. Feeding annuals helps them keep blooming. Note: Even if you mixed timed-release plant food granules into the soil when transplanting, you can still use this direct-feeding method if you don't see many blooms in the coming weeks. But you may want to further dilute the watering mixture to half-strength or less.
- You can buy zinnia and nasturtium as plants, but often these come up just fine when their seeds are sown in May. And with seeds, you can get many times the plants for much less money. Zinnia and nasturtium have large seeds that are easy to sow and the plants survive well in hot, dry conditions. Nasturtiums even prefer to be on the dry side. Both plants do best in full sun and are great in containers. Nasturtium flowers also can be eaten in salads and have a peppery flavor!
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