5 Seeds I Plant Every May

Are you planting the wrong plants in May for your climate? What grows like crazy this month in one zone might totally flop in another. That's why today I'm going to break down what you should plant in May for mild, cool, and warm climates. So whether it's crisp and cool where you live, whether it's mild or mellow or hot and humid, I've got at least five plants that you've got to put in the ground this month to make the most of this season. And some of these picks, they're going to surprise you. Let's kick it off with the cool climate gardeners. It is finally your time. It is finally your time. The frost is lifting this month or early in June. You should be free of frost. And these are things that you want to put into your garden in May. So let's start with the darling of the vegetable garden, the tomatoes. You want to be focused on tomatoes that can grow quickly and fruit quickly for you because you've got a short growing season through the middle of the summer. I love growing small tomatoes. I got so many tomatoes in my Chicago garden in the middle of the summer. You want to be putting these into your garden by plant, not by seed. So transplant as soon as your last frost has passed. It's also time for peppers. And shishitos are one of my favorite favorites. Shishito peppers will give you a ton of production, and they love the milder climates. So in a cool climate, plant these right underneath your tomatoes in your garden, and you're going to have tomatoes and shishitos by the middle of the summer. Again, this one's going to go in the garden by plant. Next up are cucumbers. Cucumbers need to grow up a tall trellis. You can plant these directly by seed right in the soil as soon as frost has passed. I usually wait a couple of days, maybe one week after my last frost, and make sure my soil is really nice and warm before I stick my cucumber seeds in. Plant these along a trellis because they're going to climb and they need a lot of sunlight. Next up, we've got bush beans. This is such an easy plant to put in the garden if you have, like, zero time. If you've got, like five minutes, go plant some bush beans. You can put these right alongside the edge of your bed. These go great into the garden simply by seed. You don't need to start these indoors, and you're to get tons of beans off of each and every seed that you plant. They hardly take up any much room. They are a no brainer for you this month in the cool climate. And finally, it is finally time for nasturtium. I love this flower. It is so productive. It's beautiful. It loves to flow right over the edge of your bed. It's going to give you flowers, it's going to give you leaves, and it's going to give you seeds. And all three parts of that plant are edible. Plus they distract all the pests to come to those flowers so they stay off your peppers, your tomatoes and your cucumbers. Love this plant. So cool. Climate gardeners, it is your time to put all of these plants into your garden in May as soon as your last frost has passed. If you're in a mild climate, you should be well past your last frost. So it is time for you to plant all the plants and I'm talking all the plants. It's going to be warming up fast this summer. So here are some plants you can put in that will love the heat. First is eggplant. I love this Black Beauty style eggplant, but many eggplants are so fun to add as well. You want to put this in as a plant, not as a seed. It's too late to plant by seed, but the plant can go directly into the garden. Now the soil should be warming up and when that soil really starts to warm up in June, these plants will be well settled in and ready to take off and give you a ton of fruit by the end of the summer. Okra is also a massive heat lover. So if you're in one of these mild climate gardens where it really does heat up by mid to in July, okra can be a awesome plant to have in your garden because it's going to get really huge and tall. It's going to be so productive in that summer sun. And bonus, it shades out some of the plants that don't love the really extreme heat of the summer, they're going to get some protection from this okra. So add this as a plant, not as a seed into your mild climate garden. The soil needs to be warm and the warmer the soil, the better. Okra, it loves it hot. Next up are peppers. If you haven't put bell peppers in your garden yet, what are you waiting for? As soon as frost has passed, you want to have plants, bell pepper plants all throughout your garden. I just checked the grocery prices on these guys. It's terrible. And they all come from like another country. So be sure you are putting lots of bell pepper plants in your garden this month. So. So that You've got peppers coming out your ears by July, August, and September. These bell pepper plants need to go in as a plant, not as a seed. Next up, basil. If you're buying basil from the grocery store, then we need to talk, because basil will grow in almost any space in your garden. You can plant this by seed or by plant. If you plant it by seed, you need to get it in the ground like yesterday. Spread out the seeds about 4 to 6 inches apart. Keep it well watered. You're going to get tons of harvest from every seed. I'm talking 5, 10, 15, 20, $25 of harvest from every basil plant or seed that you put in your garden. So this is a must have. Don't skip it. And finally, zinnias. The easiest cut flower you've ever grown in your whole entire life. And you can start these from seed directly in the soil right now. So. So frost has to be passed. This doesn't like frost. But as soon as frost has passed, spread out these seeds. You can put them on the edge of your raised bed. You can put them in your native plant pollinator garden space. These will bring all the bees, all the butterflies. They're also like a trap crop. They'll take the beetles, the Japanese beetles, away from your eggplants. These are beautiful, magical. They make gardening so much more fun. So don't skip the zinnias. If you're in a hot or warm climate, this is your month to prepare. Don't call me in June. Don't talk to me in July. If you don't do, I'm just kidding. You can talk to me then. But here, if you're watching this video, you're going to be ready, okay? Because it's going to get really hot where you live. When I garden in summer in Houston, June, July, August. Oh, my goodness. If things weren't already in the ground by June, it was really hard to get them to take root and to hang on through the heat of the summer. So this is your month. You're like, give yourself a hand, because you're watching this now and you're ready. So these are things that love the heat. They thrive in the heat. And one thing I've learned is I've done my deep dive on soil recently, and I've known this for years, but I really, really learned this recently is the garden really suffers when you leave your soil bare. So one thing you don't want to be happening this summer when it gets hot is to have any bare soil. It's time now to plant. So Your soil is covered and protected when those temps go up and when the rain halts. Yard long beans are so fun. I think they originated in Asia and these things are literally a yard long. They're like one and a half to three feet long. It's crazy. You chop them all up and they're just like green beans. But they're a yard long. They grow on trellises and they love the heat. They came from a very hot climate, so put seeds of these right along trellises, along a fence line. These things will cover your soil. They fix nitrogen in your soil. They're so good for your garden. They're awesome. Next up is Armenian cucumber. So this is a different cucumber than you would grow in a warm season garden. Or like in a warm season, this is going to be for the hot season. So Armenian cucumber, they can withstand really high temperatures. They keep flowering and fruiting. So you want to put seeds for these along your trellis in late May so that you're ready and you've got these plants well established before it really heats up in the middle of the summer. Cosmos. Oh, my goodness, I love this flower. I first planted this in my Houston garden and it took over. I learned my lesson to never put it in my raised beds again. Plant it all along the edges of your bed and your native plant pollinator garden spaces. It will bring all the bees and butterflies. But bonus, it's not. It's more heat resistant. It doesn't mind the rough, rough weather that a lot of us go through when we're gardening in a warm or hot climate. This will protect your garden from pests. It'll distract the pests from eating your veggies. And it's beautiful, too. It's a great cut flower. Next up is sunflower, also a great companion plant for all the other things you're growing this summer. If you don't put anything else in your garden bed, just put a bunch of sunflowers. You can grow tall ones, small ones, somewhere in between. I love putting the teddy bear varieties in my raised beds and then putting the taller sunflowers in my native plant and pollinator garden spaces. And a bonus, you can eat the seeds. Last but not least is tomatillos. If you haven't put these in the garden yet, this is a great time to do so. Tomatoes struggle in the middle of a really hot climate garden. I first tried to grow tomatoes, my very first summ in Houston. I planted them in June, and by July it was clear that this was not happening. But tomatillos are in the same family as tomatoes. They're going to give you that tomato like feel in the garden, but they're not nearly as picky when it comes to the hot weather. So put in some tomatillos not by seed but by plant directly in the garden. Get them established this month and then they'll have a great growing season through your summer. And make you. You know, you can still make salsa, it's just be green salsa instead of red. Now you've got your planting list for May for your climate. So I want to know, tell me in the comments, what climate are you in and which plant are you most excited about? And before you go, make sure you share this video with someone in your climate who you know needs to start planting right along with you this season. Thanks for watching. Thanks so much for listening to the Grow youw Self podcast. You can keep listening anywhere. You love getting your podcast delivered on Apple podcasts, on Spotify, iHeartRadio, you name it, we are there for you. And if you want to read the notes and get our free resources to help you grow more, you can go to gardenary.com podcast.