garden Borders and beyond
The garden in full bloom...
This is the month when alliums, peonies, lavender, iris, heucheras, clematis and roses are starting to bloom in earnest. As blooms fade on perennials such as nepeta and hardy geraniums such as Johnson's Blue, they can be cut down to two or three inches. Give them a little liquid feed, and new growth will soon flush out, and you may get a rebloom in late summer. This is a good month to take softwood cutting from shrubs, including lavender and hydrangeas, if you wish to multiply your stock of plants for free. This is also a good time to prune your spring flowering shrubs.
in the vegetable patch
Where is the sun...or the warmth????
This has been the wettest May since 1948! Lots of vegetables are sulking, AND the slugs and snails are having a field day!
Warm weather crops such as beans, summer squash, amaranth greens, and basil can still be sown from seed. In late June, start planning for your fall/winter vegetable garden. As soon as space becomes available, you can sow carrots, radicchio, endive, turnips and beets. You can start brassicas and lettuces from seed to plant out in July or August to harvest in the fall and winter. Lettuces may benefit from some shade to prevent them from going to seed.
Keep up with the weeds, cover your brassicas with a mesh to prevent cabbage whites from decimating your crops. Water your vegetables deeply once or twice a week depending on your soil.
For a detailed planting calendar, please refer to
- Seattle Tilth's "The Maritime Northwest Garden Guide" book
- PDF from Oregon Tilth https://tilth.org/app/uploads/2015/02/OT_PHCalendar_Archive.pdf
- Oregon extension service https://extension.oregonstate.edu/gardening/techniques/monthly-garden-calendars
- Washington State University extension service https://extension.wsu.edu/snohomish/fall-and-winter-vegetable-gardens-for-western-washington