May Garden Chores

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There are specific May garden chores I like to complete before the weather gets hot. Yesterday, that’s what I did after my daughter and Andrew were here for Mother’s Day lunch.

Kasi picked up three chicken dinners after church from a restaurant I wasn’t even aware we had here. A place called Raising Cane’s. We settled at my little table and enjoyed looking out on the patio. I roll over the desk chair and sit in it when they’re eating here.

Andrew made a Mother’s Day card for me. So sweet!

It has been cold and wet here. Mostly wet. But the patio plants love it, so I won’t complain.

However, my rosemary plant, above, might mind the rain. She doesn’t like a lot of moisture or her feet to be wet. The one sure way to kill certain herbs is to overwater them. I’ve done it many times.

Garden Chores For Mid-May:

The first thing you want to do in mid-May is take a look around and see what plants you have in small pots. I had about four different colors of petunias in smaller pots, about 10 inches wide.

You don’t want to go into the summer with plants in smaller pots. They will dry out too quickly in the heat, especially if they’re sitting on cement.

So I sat out there and decided what could go where in the bigger pots and the galvanized garden space. Then I got my little rolling cart and went about repotting them.

With the soil I had left over, I walked around to see which big pots were running a bit low on soil. Over-wintering and watering eventually make your soil recede, so I wanted to add more soil to those pots.

Cement Patios Get Hot Quickly:

If you have pots on a cement patio, the space will heat up and stay hot for a while. So you need to protect your plants as best you can. Lift them on something or add them to larger pots with more soil, as I did.

Then I washed out the smaller pots and put them away. I always have broken crockery at the bottom of pots, so I washed the leftover pieces and stored them under the potting bench in a container.

Then I washed down the patio where soil had sifted out while I was repotting. I like a clean patio, and I don’t want Charlie stepping in soil and walking inside with it on his feet.

Then, I tied a piece of jute around the top of my cucumber plant, attaching it to the trellis in the pot.

So now I’m ready for the heat of summer. The advantage of gardening in pots is that you can relocate plants when you notice they’re not thriving. If you have heavy pots, put them on plant caddies to make them easier to move.

While I was out there, the bees hovered in the air, acting as if they might be a bit drunk on those white tree blossoms.

My daughter asked me today what that tree is, and every year I manage to forget, even after one of you reminds me!

New Pole For Jade:

I had to get a taller pole to put in the pot where Jade (my gingko butterfly tree) is. She had outgrown the original one. Somehow, I ended up buying a pole that was about two feet too tall. So I was out there attempting to hide the rest of it up in the tree branches!

I hope a bird or squirrel doesn’t bang themselves in the head when it’s up there in that tree.

Then I retrieved my roll of jute and tied the tree I named Jade loosely to the taller pole, so that little chore was done.

After all that, I cleaned out the bird baths and was then done with the chores. So, that’s what I did for the rest of Mother’s Day: I mothered my plants and took care of May garden chores!

Blooming Sedum:

The sedum is blooming. I honestly don’t know what any of the sedum in my garden are named. Or even where they came from. It seems like they weren’t here one day, and then they were suddenly there.

They have propagated many times over. And I have shared them with anyone who wants a start of sedum. I enjoy helping people get started with gardening, and what better way than to share what I’ve learned?

Coneflower Color Revealed:

The coneflower turned out to have white flowers, which was my hope.

I can hardly believe it came back from last year. This is the first year a coneflower that I planted in the spring made it through the winter months.

Scabiosa:

Here are the lavender scabiosa. It has such intricate blooms. It’s so beautiful against the backdrop of the yellow-blooming sedum just behind it.

It is an herb and a genus in the family of honeysuckles.

Shasta Daisy:

My Shasta daisy is about to bloom. I don’t think we had even a hint of sun on Saturday. It was dark and gray. However, it made up for it the next day. There was a lot of sun.

Lemon Grass:

Look at that lemon grass. It grows so fast. It was half that size when I bought it less than a month ago.

Remember, insects do not like the scent of lemon. So you will do yourself a favor by having lemon-scented plants around.

Summer Outdoor Tip:

Mosquitoes and ants, in particular, detest the smell of orange and lemon peels. These citrus peels contain organic chemicals that can repel mosquitoes and other insects.

Also, drink lemon juice. There’s a reason why most insect repellants have a lemon scent, and that’s because, for some reason, mosquitoes don’t like it. Adding a bit of lemon juice to your water can help you avoid attracting mosquitoes.

Lemon Verbena:

I cut the lemon verbena down a bit so it would grow out more than up. In just a few days, I noticed that it was getting rounder and fuller instead of taller.

This is one of the annual herbs I get every year because the scent is just heavenly.

Pineapple Mint:

A different mint grew up in the middle of the sedum. I think it is pineapple mint, as I brushed a leaf between my fingers, and that’s certainly what it smells like.

When Andrew is here, he likes to go around to all the herbs and pull a leaf to sniff the scent.

I have had orange mint, chocolate mint, and a whole variety of mints in the past. I’d love to find an herb farm here.

Ivy Napping:

Here’s Ivy taking her afternoon nap yesterday on the quilt stack behind my recliner.

She typically plays in the mornings, sleeps in the afternoon, and then gets energetic in the evening.

Those swirly plastic toys, which cost $1.75 a bag at Chewy’s, keep her highly entertained. She bats them around from room to room and gets her exercise.

Charlie Boy:

And here’s my Charlie boy on the couch. My pets love to lie on a quilt that’s folded up.

I hope your seeds and plants are coming up in your garden as rapidly as mine are.