|

What To Plant In May

2K Shares

Getting your garden started and wondering what to plant in May? This article gives you a quick guideline on what to line in your specific plant hardiness zone.

Getting your garden started and wondering what to plant in May? This article gives you a quick guideline on what to line in your specific plant hardiness zone.

It doesn’t matter what plant hardiness zone you live in – now that May is here, it’s time to get serious about gardening! 

Where we live (zone 7 – almost 8), we’ve pretty much had our garden fully planted since early last month, except for a few succession plantings we’ll do through the summer – southern peas, and squash – if we manage to stay on top of things, which won’t be easy, because you know, where there’s a garden, there are weeds to take care of!

If this is your first year gardening, you might be interested in learning more about the 3 easiest vegetables you can grow that are also highly productive. 

This guide for what to plant in May is divided by zones, but may not be exact to your area, so be sure to look up your specific location’s last frost dates before planting summer/non-frost tolerant plants such as tomatoes or squash. 

And one last reminder before we get started: 

Enter your email address in the box below to get our free companion planting guide and gardening cheat sheets. 

Get Your Garden Cheat Sheets!

Want to know exactly when, where, and how to plant your vegetables? Sign up to get our FREE companion planting guide, and garden planting cheat sheet printable.

We won't send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time. Powered by ConvertKit

Zones 3-4 – Average last frost date May 1-15

Summer Transplanting

These are plants that will have been started indoors and are now ready to transplant into your garden. If you do not keep your own greenhouse, you can usually find them at Walmart, Lowe’s, Home Depot, and local nurseries.

What to plant in may zones 3-4
  • Artichoke (starting in late May)
  • Asparagus
  • Broccoli (early May)
  • Cabbage
  • Cauliflower
  • Celer
  • Chinese Cabbage
  • Garlic
  • Horseradish
  • Onions
  • Rhubarb
  • Shallots
  • Sweet Potatoes

Spring/Summer Direct Sow: 

These are seeds you can sow directly into your garden. Many of these, such as spinach and kale, are tolerant to light frost and can be planted a few days before your expected last frost date, or several days, and then covered with a light row cover or sheet to protect them from frosts that may occur. 

  • Arugula
  • Asian Greens Beans
  • Beets
  • Broccoli Raab
  • Brussels Sprouts
  • Carrots
  • Chinese Cabbage
  • Collards
  • Corn Salad
  • Kale
  • Kohlrabi
  • Leeks
  • Lettuce
  • Melons
  • Mesclun 
  • Microgreens
  • Mustard
  • Parsnips
  • Peas
  • Potatoes
  • Radicchio
  • Radish
  • Rutabaga 
  • Spinach
  • Swiss Chard
  • Turnips

Herbs

These herbs are best started indoors and transplanted into your garden after the last frost date. 

  • Basil
  • Chive
  • Cilantro/coriander
  • Dill
  • Fennel
  • Lemon Balm
  • Lemongrass
  • Marjoram
  • Mint
  • Oregano
  • Parsley
  • Rosemary
  • Sage
  • Stevia
  • Thyme

Zones 5-6 – Average last frost – April 1-15

Summer Transplanting

These are plants that will have been started indoors and are now ready to transplant into your garden. If you do not keep your own greenhouse, you can usually find them at Walmart, Lowe’s, Home Depot, and local nurseries.

What to plant in May zones 5-6
  • Artichoke
  • Asparagus
  • Broccoli
  • Brussels Sprouts
  • Cabbage
  • Eggplants
  • Garlic
  • Peppers
  • Potatoes
  • Scallions
  • Shallots
  • Sweet Potatoes
  • Tomatillos
  • Tomatoes

Spring/Summer Direct Sow

These are seeds you can sow directly into your garden.

  • Arugula
  • Asian Greens 
  • Beans
  • Beets
  • Broccoli Raab
  • Cantalope
  • Carrots
  • Corn
  • Cowpeas
  • Cucumbers
  • Endive
  • Gourds
  • Honeydew
  • Kohlrabi
  • Leeks
  • Lettuce (early May)
  • Melon seeds
  • Mesclun
  • Microgreens
  • Mustard
  • Parsnips
  • Peas
  • Pumpkins
  • Radicchio (early May)
  • Salad Greens
  • Soybeans
  • Spinach
  • Squash
  • Swiss chard
  • Turnips
  • Watermelon
  • Zucchini

Herbs:

These herbs are best started indoors and transplanted into your garden after the last frost date.

  • Basil
  • Borage
  • Cat Grass
  • Catnip
  • Chamomile
  • Chervil
  • Chive
  • Cilantro 
  • Coriander
  • Dill
  • Fennel
  • Lavender
  • Lemon Balm
  • Lemongrass
  • Marjoram
  • Mint
  • Oregano
  • Parsley
  • Rosemary
  • Sage
  • Stevia
  • Sweet Marigold
  • Thyme

Zones 7-8 – Average last frost date – March 1-10

Summer Transplanting

These are plants that will have been started indoors and are now ready to transplant into your garden. If you do not keep your own greenhouse, you can usually find them at Walmart, Lowe’s, Home Depot, and local nurseries.

What To Plant in May zones 7-8
  • Artichoke
  • Eggplants
  • Peppers
  • Sweet Potatoes
  • Tomatillos
  • Tomatoes

Spring/Summer Direct Sow

These are seeds you can sow directly into your garden.

  • Arugula
  • Beans
  • Beets
  • Cantaloupe
  • Corn
  • Cowpeas
  • Cucumbers
  • Gourds
  • Honeydew
  • Melon seeds
  • Okra
  • Parsnips
  • Peas
  • Pumpkin
  • Rutabega
  • Salad Greens
  • Soybean
  • Squash
  • Swiss Chard
  • Watermelon
  • Zucchini

Herbs

These herbs are best started indoors and transplanted into your garden after the last frost date.

  • Basil
  • Borage
  • Cat grass
  • Catnip
  • Chamomile
  • Chervil
  • Chive
  • Cilantro/Corriander
  • Dill
  • Fennel
  • Oregano
  • Sweet Marigold
  • Thyme

Zones 9-10

If you live in zones 9 or 10, you likely have all your garden planting done until fall arrives. 

In most cases, the middle of summer is too hot for most plants to thrive well, however, if you do want to plant something right now, here are a few tips to try: 

  • Plant heat tolerant plants, and avoid colder weather vegetables such as broccoli or cabbage. 
  • Set up some shade cloth or plant in an area that gets afternoon shade to help protect from the harsh midday sun. 
  • Set up your sprinklers to water from overhead during the heat of the day. The cool water will help cook your plants down and protect them from extreme heat. 

Hope those tips help you out! 

There are a lot of vegetables to choose from and plant in May, but none of us have that much time, right? Personally, I have selected only a small handful to plant myself because, through years of overextending and burning myself out, I have finally learned my limitations. 

If you’re still deciding what you want to plant in your garden, I suggest making a list of the things you really want to try and a separate list of practical vegetables to plant. 

Choose 3-6 from your practical list, and then 1-3 from your dream list. 

This year, I chose to try a new variety of lettuce, as well as a new variety of popcorn. I also took a gamble on strawberries (see growing strawberries in the South), which may or may not do well in our poor garden soil, depending on how well I do with top dressing it. 

Get Your Garden Cheat Sheets!

Want to know exactly when, where, and how to plant your vegetables? Sign up to get our FREE companion planting guide, and garden planting cheat sheet printable.

We won't send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time. Powered by ConvertKit
2K Shares

Similar Posts

2 Comments

  1. Thank you for your post. This useful info will help me with my goal. I want to refresh my garden and plant a lot of herbs, fruits, and veggies. I am not a professional in such things, but hope my mother will help me to do everything right. She is fond of gardening 🙂

  2. I live in zone 9, watering in the middle of the day is NOT a good thing to do and you especially don’t want to water from overhead because you will cause sunburn to the plants. We need to water early morning or evening hours to avoid loosing our valuable moisture to evaporation.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *