CLEVELAND — Green and growing things are all around us now. Our yards are alive with spring-blooming trees and shrubs. The tulips and daffodils still look great after a week of cold, rain and even snow.
When you visit your local garden center, you see plants everywhere in mid-season splendor. But with the threat of cold and frost still lingering, what should you be planting now in your yard?
It is a GREAT time to plant trees and shrubs. The ground is moist from winter and spring rains, supporting root health. The cooler May temperatures keep the leaf growth slow and steady so the tree or shrub doesn't stress out.
As for annual flowers, it's too early to plant those petunias and other Summer bloomers in your cold ground. They will be stunted for sure, and a few days of heavy rains will swamp them out. Not to mention the threat of frost still looms until the third or fourth week of May.
If you want, you can plant your annual flower baskets, porch pots and planters, and those are easier to move indoors just in case frost threatens later this month.
There's lots to do this weekend in the vegetable garden. Cool-weather crops like lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower, and peas can be planted this weekend. Grab some beet and carrot seeds and plant those this weekend, along with radishes. These all love cool weather and can handle chilly nights in the 30s. Of course, root crops such as onions and potatoes benefit from planting in April or early May.
DO NOT plant your warm-season vegetable plants until at least the 3rd week of May. Tomatoes and peppers, cucumber, squash and melon will perish if planted now.
These plants may look great in the garden center greenhouse right now, but they will almost certainly perish until the ground temperatures are much warmer.
Don't worry. You will be able to put all these plants in the ground in a few weeks! In the meantime, you got quite a list of things to do. So, let's get growing!
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