What should I plant in May?
If you think you’ve got a black thumb, you might want to give gardening another try this year. Besides growing fresh veggies, herbs, fruits, and flowers, getting out in your yard and digging offers mental health benefits, too. It’s an easy way to increase your activity levels, and according to the Mayo Clinic, it also provides health-boosting benefits like more time in nature, a healthier diet, improved social connections and decreased stress. What’s not to love?
The key is knowing what to plant and when. It won’t do any good to put in the work and not reap the benefits, so have a game plan before you break out the spade and the seeds. Here’s what you should be planting in May.
In this article: Gardeners Basics Survival Vegetable Seeds, apoloseedic Salad Greens Seed Pod Kit, Seed Needs Sunflower Seeds
How do plants know what month it is?
Plants don’t have a Google calendar to keep track of dates. Instead, they rely on environmental factors like the length of the day, the intensity of the sun, and the temperature, as well as their built-in circadian rhythm, to determine when it’s time to start growing, blossom or go dormant.
Problems with planting your garden too early
If you put in your garden or plant flowers in the early spring, there’s a chance the temperature will drop too low, possibly to freezing, which can damage or kill vulnerable plants. It’s best to wait until all chances of a frost have passed before putting things in the ground. Plus, most plants won’t germinate until the ground temperature is above 60 degrees, so even if cold weather has passed for the year, your plants won’t grow until the temperature rises. If that isn’t enough reason to wait, plants put in the ground too early can catch disease, wilt or experience stunted growth.
Why is May an ideal month for planting?
In May, the average temperature is warm and consistent enough that it’s safe to plant most vegetables and flowers. It’s still early enough in the season to give plants that thrive in warm weather enough growing time, and it’s also a good time for plants that require more time to reach maturity. If you want to grow from seed, opt for green beans, corn, sunflowers and gladiolas. If you want to work with transplants, go for tomatoes, cucumbers, thyme or mint.
Best flowers and vegetables to plant in May
Gardeners Basics Survival Vegetable Seeds
There are 16,000 seeds in this collection, including lettuce, beets, carrots, onions, squash and more. They are grown and packaged in the U.S., are great for beginners planting a complete garden and can even be stashed in a survival kit.
Beauty Beyond Belief Wildflower Seeds
This gorgeous mix of wildflower seeds is perfect for attracting pollinators! You’ll get perennials and annuals that cover up to 300 square feet and promise to bring the bees, the butterflies and birds.
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apoloseedic Salad Greens Seed Pod Kit
If you want to start small or enjoy the fruits of your harvest all year, opt for this hydroponic seed kit. You can choose between fruits, herbs, tomatoes and peppers or buy all three, and while you will need an indoor growing system, if you are a first-time gardener, it’s the perfect way to improve your green thumb.
Sunflower lovers will want to get this collection of over 15 varieties. Perfect for butterfly gardens and easy to grow, the seeds are fresh, so you’ll most likely see results quickly.
Pure Pollination Vegetable Seeds Survival Garden
This heirloom vegetable kit has over 40 veggies like kale, lettuce, pumpkins, peppers, radishes and more. There’s also an instruction booklet with over 40 pages of instructions about row spacing, hardiness and watering.
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