Fear of Freezing

If you ’re like me , May is the month when you look forward to actuate your indoor plants outside for their summer vacation .   That prison term in the outdoors always seems to do them a world of good .   But ever since my deutzia ’s flower were smash by a recent frost , I proceed with carefulness .   Since I ’ve been question if that old Mother ’s Day guideline still applies , I did a bit of research .   In addition to the common sources — identify in this month ’s Tasks & Tips In the Vegetable Garden — I came upon a young - to - me resource at the University of Virginia Office of Climatology , which focuses on the chance of several grade of low temperatures , in addition to that shivery 32º mark .   This allows you to weigh the stale sensitivity of your particular houseplants . It charts this entropy for a large telephone number of Virginia locations .   Of course , the probability of frost is decisive if you ’re planting annual , too .

Here ’s a portion of the chart for Charlottesville :

For other locality , seehttp://climate.virginia.edu/YourVAGrowingSeason.htm .   So it ’s the beginning of May , and I wonder if I should take the jeopardy of a belated hoar ?   That would hap only 1 yr in 10 , proper ?   But I endure outside Charlottesville at a higher elevation , so I think I ’ll expect another couple weeks .   That old - fashioned Mother ’s Day guideline is intelligibly popular .

Keep on weeding !

My garden has the enceinte weed population ever — and probably yours does , too . But weed now , signify less weeding later , so do a lilliputian moment every daytime or so .

irrigate your late transplantation

Do n’t forget those organ transplant from last dip .   Regular water for a twelvemonth is necessary for a industrial plant to be well - found .

Add compost

Regular diligence of compost seem to mold miracles in my garden .   There are good scientific reasons for this , of course !   See “ Backyard Composting With Practical Tips From the Pros,”https://piedmontmastergardeners.org / clause / backyard - compost - with - practical - tips - from - the - pros/.

Once we hit mid - May , a nurseryman ’s thought often turn to sowing cum of annuals straight into the garden .   Some comfortable - to - grow - from - seeded player annuals are zinnia , cleome , cosmos , good morning glory , and hyacinth bean vine .   If you ’ve been dreaming of a cutting garden , you could start it now .   For detailed directions on preparing your seam and encouraging just germ sprouting , check off out “ farm Annual Flowers , ” from the North Carolina State Extension , https://content.ces.ncsu.edu / get - annual - flowers .

Review the May Tasks and Tipsfrom prior issues of “ The Garden Shed ” — and find out whether and how to prune lilacs and paeony , plus how to identify undecomposed glitch and big bugs in your garden : piedmontmastergardeners.org / the - cosmetic - garden - in - may

Find out what your lawn call for in May :

Review the Virginia Cooperative Extension ’s tasks and tip leaning :

Be trusted to take a rupture now and then and relish your garden ’s gorgeous novel leaf and especially those flowers .   Happy Gardening !

SOURCES :

“ When Does Your grow Season Start?”http://climate.virginia.edu / YourVAGrowingSeason.htm