To Perennials, May Means "Grow"

May is the month for perennials, either to begin a new growing season or to already be in glorious bloom, such as peonies, coral bells and alyssum.

There are many to look for, such as campanula (left). Here are a few details on some perennials that may be in your garden now.

Hostas are beginning to unfurl their pips, and it's an ideal time to grab a sharp blade and divide them. Don't worry about harming these plants. Just cut through the root mass, from the top down, until you can pull away a new plant.

Hostas are easily replanted into a hole large enough to accommodate its roots and will happily flourish there all summer.

While looking over the hostas, remove last year's flower stems and winter debris that settled around the new pips. If you rake, try not to bruise the new shoots. Then, fertilize generously.

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• Peonies should be well up by now, with lush greenery and dozens of marble-shaped compact flower buds that will seem to break open over night, especially after a good rain. It's not too late to help support the heavy flower heads by installing a wide-circumference wire cone in the soil, and letting the plant continue growing around it. In lots of garden centers they're sold as "tomato" supports. This isn't necessary for the plant's health - just for gardeners to enjoy the lovely peony flowers, which sometimes droop to the ground because they're so loaded with petals. Once again, don't worry about any ants crawling on the flowers.

• If you cut some peonies to take indoors (highly recommended because of the heavenly scent!), just shake the cuttings gently against a hard surface, like the patio or an outdoor table top. The ants will scurry away fast enough.

• Delicate-looking alyssum flowers will be brightly covering garden beds - and places where they self-sowed last year! This perennial is a surprise in new places each spring. I always leave them be, or here's your chance to gently dig them up and transplant to an area you want them. Just handle the roots carefully and then feed and water them in.

• Painted daisies are one of my favorites. With their fern-like leaves and upright growth their blossoms cheerily pop out with white, pink and crimson petals with yellow centers. And almost nothing bothers these perennials. After all, they are the source of the organic pest control called pyrethrum. And though they look delicate, they are quite hardy and I've seen them survive near-drought conditions.

• Echinacea, commonly known as purple coneflower, should be putting up lots of leaves in May, though the flower buds won't appear until June or so, and usually are in blossom by July. (I usually count on their providing decor for my Fourth of July barbecue.) One of the best developments lately in this well-regarded perennial is the new colors available: white, yellow, orange, crimson. Try them all. Many are available as seeds. They're worth it. Coneflowers also make great cut flowers. And, in the fall, if you leave the flower heads through the winter, the chickadees, sparrows and goldfinches will visit them regularly to eat the seeds.

• Yarrow, another of my backyard perennials, will be starting to open its blooms among its proliferous feathery leaves. Yarrow produces a tall, (3-foot-plus) rangy plant that loves sun and is nearly impervious to hot, dry conditions. It also spreads readily and can easily be transplanted. The flower heads, which are composed of tiny florets, come in white, yellow, pastel pinks and oranges, plus some newly available deep reds, which are amazingly true from year to year.

• Groundcovers, like pachysandra and sedum, which in some zones don't die down in the winter, will be perking up and putting out new growth. Cut back dead stems and flower stalks, but don't bother the new growth. Feed generously.

• In some zones, clematis will have bloomed, or be just ready to bloom. Some types of clematis actually bloom twice a year - once in the spring, again in the fall. Don't trim last year's vines, though they may look dead, because this is actually where the new tendrils and flower buds will form. Clematis vines grow quickly, so make sure to provide support by giving them a trellis to wrap around or by weaving new shoots back into the plant or attaching them gently with twine or gardener's tape. Also, feed clematis well and make sure it's roots are kept cool under mulch.

• Cut back mature chrysanthemums to about 2 inches tall. This encourages lush new growth, which is what will produce a new round of flowers in the fall. Feed generously and water well. As they grow and produce numerous little budlets, pinch these off with clippers, without damaging the rest of the stem. These growing tips will continue appearing all summer, but you don't want them to bloom until fall. Pinch through about July, and them let them grow, feeding generously again. Also, if you took root cuttings from chrysanthemums in March or April, now is the time to set them out in the garden.

• Mulch around the bases of perennials where bare soil is visible. If desired, sprinkle a pre-emergent weed controller, such as Preen, on the soil before applying the mulch.

• There are many more perennials to discover in May. Here are just a few that should be in bloom now. Below is a table showing how to propagate the ones you like.

Remember to look up these and many other kinds of plants, zone conditions and valuable resource information from the links below: