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May Gardening Tips

06 May 2020


A Garden Tip from Helen...


Now that the weather is finally warming up, it’s time to get serious about the vegetable garden. Hopefully, you have peas coming and lettuce growing, but now is the time to plant more substantial veggies like green beans, eggplant, and okra (but not too many since they are EXTREMELY prolific). Do take daily notice of the asparagus which is ready to harvest.

If you are really agile dodging raindrops, mulch your vegetable and flower beds. But, never, NEVER mulch two of the most beautiful plants that happen to be starting to bloom right now – irises and peonies. Neither plant likes mulch, so be resigned to weed them as needed throughout the season. Peonies make great cut flowers that can be brought inside when the buds feel like marshmallows. They will last for days if you change the water every other day, or so. You can even delay their blooming by wrapping them in newspaper and sticking them in the refrigerator until you need them. The early peonies in the photo were cut as buds and allowed to open away from ants and wasps.


Since this growing season has been spectacular, I will forgo any additional commentary, and instead, rely on pictures from my own yard. Some of my plants are native and some are not. Whether you wish to go native or not, is obviously your prerogative. Personally, I like a balance!


The plants shown above, from left to right, include a non-native Korean Spice Viburnum, a native Columbine, and a native Buckeye tree.


Happy gardening,

Helen



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