Annuals 

• Direct seed warm-season annuals into the garden.
• Establish warm-season annuals this month; at planting, water them in with a soluble fertilizer to get them started right.
• Fertilize both your warm-season annuals and established cold-season annuals with a complete formula (10-10-10).
• Annuals are great for container planting; you can find sun-lovers or shade-lovers in abundance now.
• Watch new annuals closely for caterpillars munching or aphids sucking their sap. Early detection is key in pest control.
• Look for transplants of snapdragons, petunia, penta, vinca, begonia, torenia, and more.

• Plant summer-flowering bulbs (canna, elephant ears, caladium, etc..)  Selections at the nursery should be great this month. Buy your caladium tubers while we have them in stock, BUT WAIT to plant them until soil temp is consistently 70 degrees or higher.
  • Water consistently to keep the root zone moist, but not soggy.
  • Add plant markers when you plant your bulbs. It’s easy to forget where they are. 
• Finish dividing established bulbs. Tip: (Most bulbs benefit from dividing every 2-3 years),
• Remove spent flowers and seedpods from existing spring-flowering bulbs, but leave foliage alone until it is completely yellow. (This keeps energy flowing into the bulb for next year.)
• Fertilize existing bulbs if you didn’t last month. (Espoma Bulb-Tone).
• Have a hardy amaryllis in a pot that you bought this past fall? You can plant them in the garden in a spot that gets morning sun and afternoon shade.

• Prune spring-blooming shrubs when their blooms fade.
• If needed treat shrubs with iron deficiencies (green veins on yellow/green leaves, especially new leaves) with a chelated iron product.
• Finish planting container grown shrubs, might be the last month to do so without having to be hyper vigilant about their water needs throughout the upcoming hot summer.
• It’s most likely too late to dig up and move shrubs now.
• If you didn’t fertilize shrubs last month, do so now with a premium, slow-release fertilizer.

• Last call for planting trees without the need for extra maintenance or being more likely to encounter problems with them struggling to get established in the heat. (See our fall planting guide)
• Water newly planted trees by running the hose to it a few inches from the trunk and let it trickle for 30-45 minutes each week. This allows for a slow, deep soak to the roots. Watering like this, only once a week, allows the roots to adapt to infrequent watering and learn to eventually rely on rainfall to survive.
• If needed, treat trees with iron deficiencies (green veins on yellow/green leaves, especially new leaves) with a chelated iron product.

Herbs:

• Once evening temps reach the 70s, plant basil, lemon balm, and mint.
• Make plans for harvesting your cool-season herbs as they are at their peak season this month and will decline starting next month.
• Lightly fertilize herbs or apply an inch of compost and then an inch of leaf mulch, which will decompose slowly and feed the soil nutrients.

Veggies:

• Tomatoes you’re already late! Get your tomatoes planted now, as they will shut down when the heat rolls in. 
• All warm-season veggies can be planted this month. Don’t delay planting; next month will be pushing it to get a good harvest before the heat sets in. The nurseries now have a great selection of warm-season veggies. Many can also be direct seeded.
• Stake or cage tomatoes when the first flower appears, place stake on opposite side of the plant’s stem.
• Pinch suckers (side shoots) on tomatoes. These are the stems that branch out where the leaves join the stem (in the “elbow).
• Veggie gardens need 1-2” of water each week; you need to supply it if the rain doesn’t. Veggies grown in containers dry out faster than those in gardens, you may need to check them daily.
• Melons can be planted by mid month.
• All veggies should be fertilized, except beans and peas. Always water in fertilizer.