“Sweet May hath come to love us, Flowers, trees, their blossoms don.” May gardening is when our parks and gardens are absolutely bursting with life and colour. And very welcome it all is too, even if this does create a lot more work for gardeners. I’m joking, of course, everyone knows I’m at my happiest grubbing around in the soil 🙂 So, welcome to my monthly horticultural update with LOTS of photos. You have been warned (!) so let’s take a look at what to do in the garden this month.
What to do in the garden in May
As usual, I’ll break this blog post down into sections: flowers, vegetables, jobs, wildlife, scattered through with some May gardening tips too. Before we start, please enjoy this photo of Ginger and one of his guests taking their ease on our patio sofa the other evening 🙂
Spring flowering plants in May
What are the best flowers to plant in May for colour? Too many to choose from but, apart from late flowering Tulips like this month’s cover picture, if you’re looking for plants that are easy to grow and need zero maintenance, it has to be Irises. We have lots in pots and around our pond. My favourites are the true blues.
Shoutout too for one of my favourite perennials, Aquilegias, the quintessential cottage garden staples often known as Columbine or Granny’s Bonnets. Coming in all colours and super easy to grow, they prefer damp shade but will also thrive in sun as long as their roots stay damp. We have them all over our garden, in the woodland area, around the rockery, in pots, next to walls, as well as a prolific self-seeder that comes back inside our greenhouse every year. Expect to see them a lot over the coming weeks on my Instagram.
Still on the subject of planting in May, grab a bargain with some bare root perennials (plants that are packed in plastic bags with no soil, rather than in pots). On arrival, give them a good drink in a bucket of water and get them in the ground. Then you can look forward to Spring blooms next year – just like our Viburnum Opulus Roseum at the front of the house. Nicknamed the snowball bush, the blooms start off pale green and over time turn white, a stunning contrast with the bright green leaves. And they work beautifully as cut flowers mixed in with some fragrant pale purple sprigs from our Lilac bush. Another bare root purchase some seven years ago, which is now considerably taller than me.
What about plants that give life to pots and are easy to grow (with a little care)? We have some Osteospermums, Dahlia Roxy, and edible Pelargoniums. As you may recall from April’s gardening’s post, our Pelargoniums overwinter in the conservatory and come outside when the last frosts have passed. And the shiny ring around the dahlia pot is copper tape, to (hopefully) prevent the slugs and snails feasting on the tender young plants.
Other plants that are great for pots are wallflowers, such as my favourite scented Erysimum Bowles Mauve (although this one is in the ground by the back door) and a highly floriferous Senetti (this one came from ALDI!). If you keep deadheading both plants regularly, you could have flowers right through until October.
May gardening sees new flowers on our two Rhododendrons. We inherited them our home’s previous owners, and they were dying in tiny pots. Fast forward a few years and after some time in the ground, both flowering shrubs are doing much better.
Over in our woodland area, our wild garlic is still flowering happily next to some cyclamens, tiny wild violets, and shade-loving ferns. Honestly, once these plants find their feet (or roots) they’ll look after themselves. And underneath our plum tree in the orchard are some self-seeded yellow Welsh poppies. Some see weeds, I see wildflowers. Always.
May is when our beautiful clematis Montana Mayleen are in their full glory, carpeting the wall and pergola with their satin pink blooms and bronze foliage. And wafting their almond and vanilla fragrance as you walk past. I planted these as little 30cm plants some years ago, and now they’ve pretty much taken over. That’s the beauty of a clematis. Once they establish, they’re easy and reliable, a cottage garden staple.
Last month I shared our garden design for some new herbaceous borders. As we were keeping costs down, we had to plant small, young plants with not much in the way of foliage or flowers. But a couple have started to bloom and grow away already. On the left is a pretty little ground covering perennial Ajuga, also known as Buglewort. And on the right are some tall, elegant perennial Thalictrum Black Stockings, also known as Meadow Rue. Honestly, I don’t know who makes up these names, but I’m loving the flowers, nonetheless.
Where our new herbaceous borders are concerned, my May gardening jobs are all about dead heading, tying in new growth, and keeping on top of the weeding. And I’ll also need to mulch, using my favourite Strulch* ahead of the Summer months, laying a protective layer to keep the moisture in and the weeds out.
What to do in the vegetable garden in May
May in the garden is prime growing season when our vegetables begin to romp away. My November-sown Robin Hood broad beads* and Crimson Flowered broad beads* have just started producing fat little bean pods, which should be ready to harvest in the next couple of weeks. (The blue pots on canes are to prevent eye injuries when bending down to inspect or harvest). And if you look closely at the second picture, you can see some self-seeded sunflowers and a nasturtium from last year’s experiment in companion planting. Plants for free, whoop!
With the growth on my November-sown sweet peas*, we should be picking some flowers soon, I hope. Both sweet peas and broad beans are definitely worth sowing in Autumn and overwintering in a frost free location, if you have the space, so you get a good head start the following Spring. When you’re tying in your sweet peas as they grow, pinch off the their tendrils as well, to encourage vertical growth rather than have them entwine around and strangle their neighbours.
Our favourite ‘Rainbow Blend’ F1 Hybrid tomatoes* and Burpless Tasty Green cucumbers* are both ready to go into grow bags in the greenhouse now, after a few days on the shelf. If you’re moving indoor plants to an outdoor final position, do harden them off for a few days first, so it’s not so much of a shock for them. Put them outside during the day and bring them in at night, gradually acclimatising them to their new home.
With the May gardening soil temperatures warming up, now’s a great time to direct sow seeds like carrots*, fast growing radishes, and some delicious multi-coloured French beans*. And just look at our fruit trees – we should be in for a great crop of apples, pears, and kiwis, fingers crossed.
Last but not least, our raspberry, blueberry, gooseberry, and blackcurrant bushes all have plenty of tiny fruits on them too. And that most prolific of the annual vines, our grapevine is emerging from it’s dormant (dead-looking) state too. Tip: only grow the summer berries you actually like to eat 🙂
May gardening jobs
My garden chores this month are all about nurturing our seedlings and dahlia tubers. Sadly, none of my Stocks or Cosmos germinated this year. But our Scabious*, Spanish Eye Lavender, and Echinaceas* are thriving. And it’s third time lucky with my purple Cobea Scandens vine* seeds, I have three new vines to harden off and plant out, yay. I’ve already planted out our edible neon pink Nasturtiums* and edible vibrant blue Borage* seedlings. Plus I still have to direct sow some blue Cornflowers*, yellow Calendulas*, and mixed Nigellas* for some welcome colour in the Summer months.
Alan’s moved onto cutting the grass every 7-10 days now, leaving a few wildflower patches and the areas where our early Spring bulbs have finished blooming. He’s lowered the mower blades to their summer setting now, as the grass is growing so fast. And he needs to dig in the old patio slabs in the new rose bed, so they don’t wobble around when you stand on them. Our Komodo dragon looks quite at home on top of the new gravel bed though, don’t you think?
May planting can also include creating hanging baskets, although not in our household because I always forget to water them (!). But I know they can give a lot of joy to those of you with limited outside space, for example. If you don’t want to plant up your own, Thompson Morgan offer a wide range of pre-planted hanging baskets* to choose from. Hanging baskets aren’t only for decorative flowers either, try some edible orange calendulas or violets. And cherry tomatoes and strawberries both do very well in containers too. You just need to remember to give them a liquid feed every 10 days or so as they’ll exhaust the nutrients in their baskets quite quickly.
Wildlife gardening jobs for May
The bird breeding season is about to get underway (judging by the volume of the dawn chorus and daily fights). So one of Alan’s daily May gardening jobs is keeping our bird feeders topped up with quality wild bird food* and high energy fat balls*. Flora has also been making her own bird food treats with a mix of peanut butter, seeds, and honey – which our resident magpie, pigeons, jackdaws, and rooks ADORE.
It’s #NoMowMay this month, and although we’re don’t stop cutting our grass entirely, we do leave pockets of wildflowers where we can, such as clumps of daisies and dandelions, so pollinators can benefit. And we’re keeping an eye on our ponds, clearing any duckweed and excess vegetation to give the frogs, newts, and fish plenty of room to thrive too.
We’re all absolutely THRILLED with how many solitary mason bees have taken up residence in the bee house by our back door. They have zero interest in our comings and goings, they are utterly focused on building their homes for their future offspring. If you want to help these amazing beneficial insects too, then installing a bee house* in a sunny, sheltered spot is one of the best ways to do it.
May gardening – a summary
And this marks the end of my May gardening update and reminders of what to do in the garden in this month. While it’s certainly a busy time of year, it’s also important that we stop every so often and take time to enjoy what we’re privileged to look after too.
I hope you’ve enjoyed your virtual visit to May in our garden? Are you surprised by how much colour there is already? And have I given you any ideas or inspiration for your own outside space, whether that’s a large garden or a small window box? Because gardening can happen anywhere, you only need to get your hands dirty, and let Nature teach you the rest!
* This post features affiliate links but all opinions are my own (see my Disclaimer).
As always, I thoroughly enjoyed your monthly gardening update. Your photos are lovely and I almost feel like I’m there. We are having an unusually cool Spring with temperatures breaking record lows that haven’t been seen here in a century. I have a new garden I want to plant up but must wait for a warm up. Have a great month!
Thank you, Jodie, that’s lovely to hear. And how exciting, a new garden to plant up – I know just how you feel! Hope you have a great month too.
It looks like your garden is doing really well! I’m just putting the dahlias in and hope they do as well as last year 🙂
Fingers crossed – I’m keeping my dahlias in the greenhouse for a while yet, until they have more top growth 🙂
I love these posts of yours! I definitely am obsessed with gardening and it just brings me joy to go out everyday and just check on all my plants! I have successfully grown pumpkins the last 3 years but this year I am attempting some more fruit and veggies such as tomatoes, potatoes, lettuce and strawberries. All are looking great so far so hopefully I can keep it up and keep them growing nicely 😊 I have also just bought some bushes/plants such as lavender and a new 2022 plant (can’t remember the name). So I am excited for them to grow 🪴 sorry this was long I just get so excited haha! Thanks for your useful tips as well and other plants I can buy xx
Thank you, Gemma, that’s just wonderful to hear! So happy you’re a fellow gardening fan and wow, congratulations, I’ve not managed pumpkins yet, go you! And please don’t apologise for your comment, I’m thrilled you enjoyed the post and that it’s been helpful for you too. Good luck with your garden this year 🙂 xx
Your garden is looking so colourful and pretty. You have a great range of different flowers Lisa. I can’t wait to own my house to be able to plant flowers and I would love to have a go at growing my own vegetables. Thank you for sharing!
Lauren x
Thank you, Lauren! We are very lucky to have our garden, it’s such a huge bonus to be able to grow our own flowers and food – I hope you get your garden soon xx
I am surprised by the variety of flowering and fruiting plants you grow. The pictures are worth your effort. Hope that vegetables will give you a good yield. My vegetable plants are now about to be replaced. There’s plenty of rain this summer.
That’s very kind of you to say so, thank you. My first love is flowers, but I’m aiming for more vegetables this year 🙂
Everything looks so good! I just finished my planting over the weekend, and I’m hoping for a good crop of vegetables this year.
Lucky you, I still have LOTS of planting to do, haha!
Montana Mayleen looks so pretty when it’s fully grown, and this is the first time I see it. Amazing garden update and good to know what to do this month. Thank you for sharing!
She is probably my favourite clematis, such a reliable and long-flowering plant 🙂
Does House & Garden need a feature/guest post? I think you’ll fit the bill, Lisa.
Ginger, however, has got my gardening attitude.
I love your mindset, Bev, that’s so funny 🙂
So many beautiful flowers blooming in your garden this month. It looks almost like a fairytale. I’m going to bookmark this post. Some of the flowers are going to be my art inspiration. Thank you for sharing. Beautiful post as always.
That’s very kind, Fadima, and I’m very honoured our flowers may inspire your beautiful illustrations too, thank you!
I love the snowball bush! Such a fun plant! I’d literally lose my mind having bees so close to my back door. I sure wish I didn’t have such anxiety around them but you’ll catch me running from my back door to my car at top speed and spending as little time outside as possible from April through September to avoid them. I am *terrified*. But it’s fantastic that you’ve given them a nice home!
Ah, I’m sorry you’re not keen on bees, although I do understand. I was a little nervous when I saw how many of them were buzzing around the back door but they honestly couldn’t be less interested in us, we’ve not had a single one come into the kitchen!
Ooh I love this – your garden is so colourful and beautiful! Ginger and his friend are super cute, haha. I love the Viburnum Opulus Roseum – they do look like snowballs – and also the Montana Mayleens, I love their colour and it sounds like they smell just as good! Thank you so much for sharing x
Thank you, Ceri 🙂 We are very lucky, I’m really surprised by how much colour we’ve got already – fingers crossed this continues through the summer! x
Oo, your patio looks like such a lovely place to relax and enjoy the beautiful scenery of a garden in growth! I love that bees have taken up residence in your bee-house; we tried to do the same thing but we had no takers . . . I can imagine the smell of wax and honey later on in the summer will be truly delicious! 🙂
Thank you, Jaya 🙂 This little bee house is only for solitary bees, although I do have longer term ambitions to have a proper beehive – one day…!
This was beautiful. I like your garden tips.
Thank you, I’m glad they were useful.
I loved being able to see all of the gorgeous flowers growing in your garden. May really is one of the very best months of the year!
It is indeed, we are very lucky 🙂
So many beautiful flowers blooming in your garden this month Lisa! x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
Thank you, Lucy! x
Your garden looks wonderful. We have a snowball bush which I only realised the other day after seeing one on instagram. Our garden is basically still a paddock – I like flowers, but actually gardening doesn’t interest me at all. It just feels like too much effort. I have marigolds in the wall (most now grow alongside it rather than inside) with some random other wildflower easy growers that now years after I planted them, no longer grow. I can’t even get plants to grow in my pot by the front door. Luckily the inlaws share the ‘front’ garden on the farm, so at least that looks beautiful. I didn’t get my grandfather’s green fingers – he was a gardener.
Ah, thank you, Emma 🙂 I can’t pretend it isn’t a lot of work but for me it’s my happy place and completely worth the time and money (not sure my husband agrees though…). I’m also not the greatest potted plant grower, so wildflowers are a great option for easy colour and little effort.
Your garden is full of beautiful flowers! Well done! As someone who cannot get into gardening, I commend you for the hard work you put in. And thank you for showing us 🙂
Thank you very much, that’s very kind, and I’m so pleased you enjoyed my update 🙂
I’ll for sure be passing this onto my Nan, I think she’ll really enjoy giving it a read and getting inspiration as to what to do in her garden. You share some great tips on what to do and the flowers you’ve shared are absolutely beautiful! Thank you so much for sharing this with us lovely Xo
Elle – ellegracedeveson.com
That’s lovely to hear, Elle, thank you, I hope your Nan enjoys my update too x
You have an amazing garden. I am just about to start weeding. Hope mine looks half as good.
Thank you, Jamie! I do have some weeds, I prefer to view them as wildflowers 🙂
You have so many flowers in bloom, in my garden there is a lot of green this month. 🙂 Love the picture with the cats, they are very cute.
We do, I’m so happy with all the colour, I feel very lucky!
I mean, I have totally missed your gardening updates in the last few months and so glad to have gotten back to them, because it’s such a nice experience to virtually walk through all this magic from nature! I love the bees house and how ginger brings guests too! Can’t wait to have a garden to tend to x
Ah, thank you so much, Cristina, that’s so kind of you! I love sharing what we’re lucky enough to enjoy so I’m really happy that you enjoy my monthly updates 🙂 x