Gardening The First Week Of May
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I usually have already begun gardening by the first week of May. I’ve typically gone to the garden nursery around the middle of April and purchased plants.
Some of the plants I choose are old favorites. For instance, I always pick up a little pot of pineapple sage and lemon verbena simply because I absolutely love their scent.
I’m also enjoying seeing the plants against the blue backdrop of the house that I had painted last fall.
There’s been lots of rain here in Tulsa, which is normal for this time of year. The rain is like catnip to the garden plants, which are growing fast.
In the distance, I can hear thunder rumbling like a disgruntled old man.
Hanging Plant Hooks Gift:
A sweet reader sent me two of these hooks so I can pull the Boston ferns down to water the plants, and then let them inch back up toward the ceiling. They are so handy!
You can order them here from Amazon.
Outdoor Decor:
Greg hung the ceramic sun and the Wanda oil thermometer/sign.
I’ve had this Wanda oil sign since my twenties. A long-gone great-aunt had it in her garage and gave it to me. Her late husband had worked for this company in Oklahoma City.
I think I picked up the colorful ceramic sun at a roadside store in Jenks.
Coco Basket Liners For My Container Garden:
I ordered two 16-inch coco basket liners for my hanging Boston ferns and wondered why I hadn’t used them before.
Walmart only had one in stock. I suppose everyone is buying them right now. The second liner arrived on Wednesday.
Natural coconut liners help retain moisture, drainage, and aeration for healthy plant growth. They are a natural, durable, and environmentally friendly alternative to traditional moss liners.
I read that Coco liners can last for at least 2 years.
Doctor’s Appointment:
I had an appointment with my physician on Wednesday afternoon. She wants me to try the knee injections. I told her I hadn’t had much luck with injections in other parts of my body. But she said she thought they worked better on knees than some other parts of the body.
So I guess I will let her set that up. I’m barely getting around while wearing a brace on both knees, even when using a cane and a walker.
This has shortened the amount of gardening I would generally do. But really, I’m pretty satisfied with my porch plants and the containers below on both sides of the porch steps.
I told my doctor that I had never in my life had knee pain until 3 months ago. She said the damage was already there; I just wasn’t feeling it yet. And now that I am, the pain is accelerating quickly and challenging my mobility.
First, my ankle, which was injured in 2012, was problematic. She said the ankle issue may have contributed to the knee problems surfacing now, 13 years later.
I sincerely hope I’m not headed for knee replacement surgery. Maybe the injections, when and if I get them, will improve things for a while.
Gardening Thoughts On The First Week Of May:
I have not planted any seeds this year, though I like to grow zinnias. But I don’t think the plants get enough sun by the porch for zinnias.
Zinnias are great seeds to plant if you have more sun because they produce many enduring and photogenic blooms.
I’ve already spent considerable money on perennials, annuals, and herbs. Since I moved, I had no choice but to buy them if I wanted perennials in my garden again. Though more expensive, I think of perennials as planting for the future.
No more moving and having to leave winter-dormant perennial plants behind! I had to leave them behind when I moved from my first apartment in January 2022, and again when I moved to this house in November 2024.
First Week Of May Deadheading Spent Flowers:
As I’ve mentioned before, I enjoy deadheading spent flowers. Most deadheading comes with petunias, as their flowers can crumple fast, especially when it rains. Once I plant in mid-April, this gardening chore begins soon after the first of May.
I went outside yesterday morning and deadheaded the geraniums and petunias. These little chores keep the flowering process on track.
Deadheading the flowers is a meditative and calming garden chore, and I do it almost daily. I’m always more relaxed when I’ve deadheaded the flowers, and there are no more drooping and spent petals.
The process not only cleans up a plant’s appearance but also encourages flowers and plants to grow thicker and fuller. Once stems get “leggy,” the overall look of the plant isn’t nearly as pretty.
What’s going on in your garden?
Hello Brenda
Your flowers look lovely against the blue! Greg is so nice to help you with tasks that are a challenge for you. He seems like a great help to you. Would you explain how you dead-head plants? I don’t understand the process. I plant a few flowers but haven’t any experience gardening. Thank you! Everything looks so nice inside and outside your home.
3 more or more weeks here in Wyoming until we can plant due to the last frost date being May 15. What’s your last frost date in your area?.
It’s a pleasure to read that you are enjoying your life with your plants. Good for you.
Don’t give up on the knee getting better unless you try using a red light therapy machine…I love mine. It is worth every cent!! It has kept me mobile. Not to say my knee does not hurt at times, but nothing as it was. And after a treatment, I am good to go. I use mine every morning. Sometimes later in day if I hurt myself or something but most days once is enough.
Thank you for sharing pictures of your beautiful flowers . Early Tuesday morning when I turned on the patio light to let the dog out , one of the feral cats 🐈⬛ was walking on top of the privacy fence . I love it when cats are spunky! It was so fun to see ! I’m in Wisconsin so I haven’t planted anything yet . I’m excited to get started .
It’s still too cold here in northeast IL to do much gardening. Everything around us is in full bloom right now though – so beautiful. Mother’s Day is usually the average time here to start planting – veggies AND flowers. We’re thinking of going to a garden center on Sunday, but I know it will be absolutely packed. So I dunno. It’s a small private garden center, not a big one, so parking can be a nightmare and then getting your cart into the aisles, etc.
Me and a friend went to a huge farm in WI a few days ago. They had a bunch of perennials for sale. I really don’t need anymore perennials, but I did buy one that I had never seen before. It’s called Veronica gentianoides. I’m going to put it in my butterfly garden where my lamb’s ear used to be (it all died over the years).
I’m so sorry about your chronic knee pain. I know how awful it is. (I have osteoarthritis.) My knees right now (knock on wood) are not painful. It’s weird how it comes and goes. I’ve been faithfully doing strengthening exercises that I’ve found on IG from physical therapists, so maybe that’s helping, I dunno. I hope the injections work for you. Did she say if she’s going to try cortisone, or can you try the other type of injections – gel injections?
I saw your trip on Instagram. I try to never go to a garden center on the weekend.
That is a beautiful geranium. I have found growing them here in So Cal with the heat is pretty easy and I don’t kill them off! That hanging pot hook is very interesting.
I’d never seen a hanging pot hook like it. Very useful!
Your pictures and descriptions sound happy like years ago. Mamie has been good for you.
I had a fall last Saturday and had a hip replacement. I am so glad I have been doing my leg exercises. I wish I had done the ones for my arm. The surgeon repaired a few things that have been causing me to have back pain, too.
Surgery was not planned. The pain seems gone in my back!
I had back surgery at age 30 and the pain was back in 7 months. So I didn’t have very good luck with it. I’m glad you did!
Good Friday Brenda,
Your porch looks wonderful. The plants already look so good!
If Iay say, your Dr is correct, the knee injections do work very well as long as your Dr knows where to put them. Mine sprays this very cold deadening med and gives me my shots. There’s only a slight fast pinch. I recommend going home, taking a Tylenol and staying off your feet for the rest of the day. The shot always gives me a bad headache but 3 days later I’m walking like I’m 30 again!
I had my left knee replaced in Nov and I’m just trying my best to keep my right one as long as I can!
Today I’m trying to finish planting the last few plants in my big black cast iron pot in front of my porch.
Hope you can have a wonderful weekend!
It doesn’t bother me not going out very often. I can always entertain myself. And then there’s the 3 kitties!