Things to do in May: Flowers

Planting:

□ Plant your Mother's Day hydrangea . . . in the garden where it will get morning sun and afternoon shade.

□ Attract butterflies to the garden . . . plant coneflowers, butterfly weed, daylily, coreopsis and black-eyed Susan.

□ Continue to divide summer and fall blooming perennials . . . such as chrysanthemum and obedient plant if they are not blooming.

□ Dig and divide small bulbs . . . such as winter aconites and snowdrops after the foliage has started to die back.

□ Plant tender bulbs . . . such as agapanthus, dahlia, gladiola, amaryllis, canna, and calla lily now.

□ Plant frost tender bougainvillie, lantana, and hibiscus . . . Keep well watered until they are established; then they can tolerate our dry summers.

□ Plant fast-growing summer vines . . . such as hyacinth bean vine, moonflower vine, cypress vine or gourds.

□ Transplant annuals in the evening . . . or on a humid, windless, cloudy day.

□ Sow seeds of these annuals . . . directly in the ground where you want them to grow: cosmos, marigolds, four o'clocks, Mexican sunflowers (Tithonia) and zinnias.

□ Nick the seeds of morning glory . . . with a small file, or soak them overnight inwater, to speed their germination.

Fertilizing:

□ Fertilize annuals at planting time . . . with 1-2 Tbsp. Osmocote or Espoma FlowerTone organic fertilizer.

□ Fertilize azaleas and rhododendrons . . . after they have finished blooming. These are acid-loving plants, so use an acid-forming fertilizer such as Espoma HollyTone.

□ Fertilize most other shrubs, perennials and roses now . . . Roses, especially, should be fertilized in anticipation of next month�s extravagant flower display.

Pruning:

□ Remove spent flower stalks . . . from bulbs, but leave the foliage to produce food for next years flowers.

□ Remove dead and weak canes . . . from climbing roses after they have put out new leaves.

□ Pinch out the terminal inch or two . . . of new growth on chrysanthemums and asters to make the plants bushier. Continue to pinch occasionally through early June.

Pest Control:

□ Water in the morning and avoid wetting the leaves . . . to prevent black spot and mildew on roses and other disease-prone flowers.

□ Remove faded foliage from bearded iris . . . to control iris borers, whose eggs overwinter on the foliage.

□ If you have roses that were infected with black spot disease in the past . . . prevent black spot and other diseases by spraying every week with a mixture containing 2 tsp. baking soda and 2 tsp. liquid soap per gallon of water.

□ Remove aphids from tender new plant growth . . . by spraying them off with a blast from the hose.