May Gardening Guide - What To Plant Now For Every Garden Zone

May Garden Guide For All Zones

Get a printable checklist PDF version of this guide to keep you on track, via email HERE.

May marks a shift from a traditional gardening to what I like to call "jungle gardening". Summer is intensely hot and rainy depending on where your located. Tropical crops easily survive and produce. Many gardeners in Florida just give up and put their beds to rest. I must admit, it is tempting for me to do the same. But I manage to power through and still harvest something during the summer. I look to other sub tropical countries in South America, Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean as inspiration for the types of crops that will grow best during the up coming months. 

Check out the video version of this guide on my YouTube channel:

Bush and pole/vine beans, winged beans, cow peas, southern peas, & yard long beans

Past last spring frost date: Direct sow seeds

Not past last spring frost date: You can sow 1 bean seed per cell of a 72 cell seed tray 3 weeks before your last spring frost date to get a head start on the season.

Beans are a super easy crop as they start producing from seed in about 2.5 months from sowing the seed. I love to sow seeds for bush beans underneath my tomato plants. Vining type beans produce more than bush type beans but they require a trellis to grow on. The taller the trellis, the longer the vines, and the more beans you will get. If your in a hot summer climate (South USA zones 8 and up), I highly reccomend you make the switch to growing the more tropical heat loving types of beans, like yard long beans, winged beans, cow peas, pigeon peas, and southern peas because they will grow/produce much better than bush or pole beans.

Check out my How to Grow Green Beans (bush & pole beans) from seed to harvest YouTube video HERE.

Check out my How to Grow Yard Long Beans from seed to harvest YouTube video HERE.

Greens for Zones 7 and below: Lettuce, tatsoi, spinach, swiss chard, bok choy, arugula, radicchio, Napa cabbage, endive, and mustard greens - It is ok to direct sow seeds for all of these things if your past your last spring frost date. If you are not past your last spring frost date, sow seeds indoors 6 weeks before your last spring frost date. You can also transplant kale if you are past your last spring frost date. 

Greens For Zones 8 and up: Longevity Spinach, Okinawan Spinach, Katuk, Malabar Spinach, Yerba Mate, Chaya, Sisso Spinach, Molokhia, New Zealand Spinach & South Sea Salad Tree - I recommend that hot climate gardeners start transitioning to heat tolerant greens. Some of these things are started from seed while others are propagated from cuttings. If it can be grown from seed, like molokhia or New Zealand spinach, sprinkle seeds in bare spots around the garden. Mix in some blood meal (high in nitrogen for lush leafy growth) into the soil before you direct sow the seeds to give them a boost. Or transplant plants with some blood meal added into the planting hole. 

Corn - Flint, Dent, Popcorn, & Sweet Corn

Past last spring frost date: Direct sow seeds once your last average frost date has passed. If you have poor germination, try sowing 1 corn seed per cell of a 72 cell seed tray to grow your own "plug". They must be transplanted at the 3 week mark or they will get root bound. 

Not past last spring frost date: You can sow 1 corn seed per cell of a 72 cell seed tray 3 weeks before your last spring frost date to get a head start on the season.

Be prepared for the corn ear worm. The worms that attack corn are a little bit tougher than the regular worms that attack the rest of my crops. I highly recommend the use of spinosad which kills worms on contact. Spray at the first signs of worm damage on the leaves to prevent the worms from making their way into the ear of corn. If they get into the ear of corn, they are protected and spraying will no longer work. They will eat the ear of corn from the inside out.

Find spinosad and BT from Amazon HERE. 

I have a corn growing guide on my YouTube channel HERE.

Cucumbers, Summer squash, zucchini, tromboncino rampicante, winter squash, Seminole pumpkins, Calabaza squash, watermelons, cantaloupes, melons

Past last spring frost date: You can direct sow 2-3 seeds per mound. Monitor seedlings for any worm damage. Use BT at the first signs of worm damage to control the population before they get out of control. Spray with 1 cup hydrogen peroxide per gallon of water if you see powdery mildew. 

Not past last spring frost date: If your last spring frost date has not passed yet, start them indoors in solo cups to get a head start, and transplant them out as soon as your last spring frost date has passed.

If you struggle to grow squash because of squash bugs or the dreaded squash vine borer, I highly recommend you choose squash cultivars in these two groups: C. Moschata or C. argyrosperma. These types of squash cultivars have extra thick and woody stems that make it hard for the bugs to get into. And they have higher disease tolerances. I'm not saying you wont get any pests or diseases, its just that these are tough plants that will tolerate more disease and pest pressure before dying. This increases your chances of harvesting something. 

I recommend that hot climate gardeners switch to growing only Asian cucumber cultivars over the summer. Examples include Sooyow Nishiki, China Jade, and Japanese Long. The Asian varieties have a much higher disease resistance which is key since summer heat and rains cause leaf disease to proliferate. Spray with 1 cup hydrogen peroxide per gallon of water to treat for any leaf disease.

Check out my YouTube video on How to Grow Cucumbers from seed to harvest HERE.

Check out my How to Grow Squash and Zucchini From Seed YouTube video tutorial HERE.

Brassicas - Cauliflower, Broccoli, Cabbage
This is for cold climate gardeners zones 7 and below only. Sow seeds indoors, 8 to 12 weeks before your last spring frost date. If your past your last spring frost date and the ground is workable, then you can also just plant transplants. 

Zones 8 and up -  plan on sowing seeds indoors in July or August to transplant them in September or October. They grow better during the fall, winter, and early spring for hot climates with mild winters.

Herbs: basil, oregano, parsley, fennel, chives, garlic chives, chamomile, cilantro, dill, lemon balm, mint, rosemary, sage, thyme

Herbs prefer drier conditions and temperate weather. Think Mediterranean. I plant the majority of herbs in containers/pots/raised beds because they tend to root rot easily if the soil is too moist. Growing them in containers helps with drainage and keeps the soil more dry.

Past last spring frost date: Herb seeds can be direct sown after your last frost date has passed. Or plant transplants. 

Not past last spring frost date: Get an early start on your herb garden by starting seeds in 72 cell seed trays or 4 inch pots, indoors right now. 

Tropical Herbs for zones 9 and up or those of you past all danger of frost: Ginger, Shampoo Ginger (Awapuhi), Turmeric, Galangal, Thai basil, mint, agastache (Korean Mint), green onions, bay leaf, Cuban oregano, ginger, turmeric, lemon grass, papalo, and garlic chives.

I highly recommend that those of you in zones 9 and up with very hot summers, start planting tropical herbs. These will last through the summer when regular Mediterreanean type herbs struggle. 

Watch my how to grow shampoo ginger YouTube video HERE.

Flowers - Spring is a great time to add flowers that attract beneficial insects and pollinators to the garden. It is ok to direct sow seeds or transplant flowers if your past your last spring frost date. If you are not past your last spring frost date, sow seeds in 72 cell seed trays or 4 inch pots. 

Plant these flowers to attract butterflies: milkweed, passion flower, dutchmans pipevine, fennel, parsley, zinnias, sunflowers, and tithonia also known as Mexican Sunflower

Plant these flowers to attract bees: sunflowers, tithonia, agastache aka Korean Mint, and African Blue Basil

Plant these flowers to attract beneficial insects: agastache, borage, Nasturtiums, alyssum,

Plant these flowers to repel pests: strong smelling plants like marigolds, basil, anything in the allium family (onions, green onions, chives), oregano

Plant these flowers to serve as trap crops - Cleome, Nasturtiums, Sunflowers, strawflowers, chrysanthemums, Blue Hubbard Squash, dill. Plant trap crops at the edges of the garden to lure pests to that area. It makes it easy to find all the pests in one spot to treat or remove. 

Radish, Beets, Turnips 

Zones 8-11: You should have planted and harvested these crops out by now. 

Zones 7 and below that are past your last spring frost date: You can direct sow seeds. 

Not past last spring frost date: These root crops need to be direct sown. Wait until your last spring frost date has passed and the ground is workable. 

Tropical Root Crops - sweet potatoes, malanga, taro, yuca aka cassava, ginger, turmeric, galangal, jicama, name or true yams.

If your past your last spring frost date, then you can start planting tropical root crops. Buy sweet potato slips and plant if you have not grown your own by this point. Many instructions say sweet potatoes are ready to harvest in 90 days but I disagree. You can harvest them at 90 days but they will be very small. I like to harvest anywhere between 150-180 days, when the potatoes are very big.

Potatoes & Carrots

Cold climate gardeners (zones 7 and below) can plant potatoes if the ground is workable and direct sow seeds for carrots.

Check out my guide on how to grow carrots from seed all the way to harvest HERE. 

Onions 
Zones 7 and below can transplant onions into the garden if your past your last spring frost date. Zones 8 and up, wait until fall to transplant onions. You should be harvesting them out by now. All zones can plant green bunching onions from seed or transplants right now. 

Tomatoes, Peppers, & Eggplants

Zones 7 and below: If your passing your last spring frost date in May, use transplant. Or sow seeds indoors. Tomatoes typically take 10-12 weeks if using 5000K or higher shop lights. It takes me 8 weeks when I use Mars Hydro grow lights (find these grow lights from Amazon HERE). I like to sow seeds for peppers and eggplants 3 months before my last spring frost date to ensure they are nice big transplants. 

Zones 8 and 9: It is too late to just get started with sowing seeds. By the time they start producing, summer will be in full force, and its the summer heat that kills off my tomato plants and terminates my tomato season. High heat conditions also make my peppers and eggplants stop producing. Use transplants instead. 

Zones 10 and up: It is too late to start from seed or transplant. You should be harvesting out the last bit of your tomatoes by now. Once June arrives, the intense heat, rains, pests, and diseases make it almost impossible to grow tomatoes expect for maybe a very strong resistant hybrid cherry or Everglades tomatoes. I start removing all my tomato plants from the garden in June because they essentially just become host plants for all the diseases and pests. Plan to sow seeds indoors in July to transplant at the end of August or early September.

Check out my tomato playlist for a ton of info about growing tomatoes HERE.

Check out my peppers playlist for how to sow seeds and transplant HERE.

Check out my how to grow eggplants from seed to harvest tutorial HERE.

Asparagus - Everyone - If the ground is workable, you can plant a new asparagus bed or add to an existing one. They require full sun and soil rich in organic matter. 

Luffa, moringa, Roselle, Okra, Thai Double Blue Butterfly Pea, and edible gourds - These crops require a minimum of 6 months in a row of warm temperatures to grow and produce. Get an early start by starting them from seed indoors, in large solo cups. Transplant as soon as your last frost date has passed. If your past all danger of frost, it is ok to direct sow seeds. 

Check out my How to Germinate Luffa Seeds tutorial on YouTube  HERE.

Check out my How to Germinate Moringa Seeds tutorial on YouTube HERE.

Check out my How to Grow Roselle From Seed to Harvest tutorial HERE.

Ground Cherries aka Gooseberry aka Physalis - Seeds require light to germinate so do not cover with soil and place them under a strong light source. I like to start seeds in 4 inch pots and place under a bright light source like grow lights.

Past last spring frost date: It is ok to direct sow seeds but since they require light to germinate, I like to sow indoors under grow lights.

Not past last spring frost date: Sow seeds indoors 8 weeks before your last spring frost date. 

Fruit Trees & Plants - Now is a great time to plant new fruit trees.

If I had to pick just 5 fruiting trees or plants that produced a lot with minimal effort, I would recommend these: Stone fruits (Peaches, nectarines, plums), grapes/muscadine grapes, avocados, pineapples, and mulberries. 

If you are past your last spring frost date, you can plant fruiting trees and plants like these: pineapples, bananas, plantains, Barbados cherry, mangoes, avocados,sour sop, lychees, citrus, jaboticaba, passion fruit, fig, citrus, dragon fruit, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, Jamaican strawberry tree, Grumichama, ice cream bean, papaya, guava.

Strawberries - Cold climate gardeners zones 7 and below can transplant strawberry crowns. Strawberries are a spring and summer crop for you, so plant strawberry crowns as soon as your last spring frost has passed and the ground is workable. I recommend the June bearing or Ever bearing cultivars for cold climates, they produce the best in the summer months.