May is the most magnificent month of the year at the Great Lakes garden. Trees and shrubs burst into bloom, the shade garden reaches its summit of beauty and the weather is just about perfect. With the passage of the final frost date, you also can bring tender annuals into the garden, but with the warmer weather come garden chores you have to do now. If there were more times in May.
Barbara Pintozzi
May Blooms
While there are lots of flowering trees that struggle here in the Great Lakes, the crabapple (here Malus ‘Prairiefire’, zones 4 to 8) faithfully provides an excellent show every year. The sweet crabapple scent fills the atmosphere from branches therefore laden with blossoms that it looks as if pink, white and red clouds have descended. If you plant varieties that bloom at different times, your crabapple display can persist for a month.
Crabapples are flexible, with types ranging from weeping to broad spreading and heights ranging from the 5-foot-tall’Tina’ around 20 to 25 ft for several cultivars, which makes them suitable for planting under power lines. They need full sun and are adaptable to many soil conditions. Start looking for disease-resistant cultivars.
Barbara Pintozzi
Lilacs (Syringa vulgaris, zones 3 to 7) are tough, long-lived fragrant spring standards. Though not indigenous, they are connected with the Midwest due to the 19th-century pioneer practice of planting lilacs near outhouses. The strong scent of lilacs is nostalgic for lots of individuals, which makes them quite popular; there is even an annual Lilac Festival in Lombard, Illinois. They are fantastic for integrating into heritage and cottage gardens.
Syringa vulgaris may be more prone to powdery mildew. Dwarf Korean lilacs (Syringa meyeri, zones 3 to 7)aren’t prone to powdery mildew and bloom slightly later than common lilacs.
Barbara Pintozzi
Among the very best underused shrubs blooming in May is that the native pagoda dogwood (Cornus alternifolia, zones 3 to 7). Its elegant tiered branching construction makes it appealing during all seasons. It thrives in shade and lightens the garden during May.
Barbara Pintozzi
For an unparalled flowery screen, nothing beats tree peonies (here Paeonia suffruticosa‘Ofuji-Nishiki’, zones 4 to 9). The dinner-plate-size blossoms have a light fragrance and open until the herbaceous peonies. These 4- to 6-foot-tall woody shrubs bloom in a range of colors from white to yellow to red to purple. The fragile blooms last longer if the plant is sited in partial shade, preferably with morning rather than afternoon sun. Who wants rhododendrons?
Barbara Pintozzi
The shade garden reaches its peak in May, with large, bold natives like Solomon’s plume (Smilacina racemosa aka Maianthemum racemosum, zones 3 or 4 to 7, shown with all the indigenous Geranium maculatum) and later Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum biflorum var. commutatum,zones 3 to 9). Their white blossoms glow in the shade.
Barbara Pintozzi
Together with the nonnative columbines, the red and yellowish native Aquilegia canadensis (zones 3 to 2 ) blossoms in May, providing nectar for hummingbirds.
Barbara Pintozzi
Foamflowers (Tiarella ‘Iron Butterfly’, zones 4 to 9, shown) and coralbells (Heuchera hybrids, zones 4 to 8) send forth bright flowers, whilst wild blue phlox(Phlox divaricata, zones 4 to 8) scent the air with sweet blossoms.
Barbara Pintozzi
The ephemerals make their big screen now, and it would not be May without mayapples (Podophyllum peltatum, zones 3 to 8). These large, spreading plants need careful siting, because they form large colonies that can leave a gaping hole when they expire. The fruits ripen in June.
Barbara Pintozzi
Trilliums (here Trillium grandiflorum, zones 4 to 8), Dutchman’s breeches(Dicentra cucullaria, zones 3 to 7), shooting stars (Dodecatheon meadia, zones 4 to 8) and spring attractiveness (Claytonia virginica, zones 3 to 8) make a short but showy look before disappearing in the summer heat.
Barbara Pintozzi
While not a normal blossom, jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum, zones 4 to 9) does bloom. Despite being a native plant, the foliage provides a tropical feel before it disppears during the summer, leaving stalks of bright orange fruits.
Barbara Pintozzi
Well-behaved exotics can increase the May shade garden, such as brunnera (Brunnera macrophylla‘Jack Frost’, zones 3 to 2 ), Epimedium and primroses (Primula spp). Lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis, zones 2 to 7) needs to be sited at a confined area where it will not overrun.
Barbara Pintozzi
Straddling the border of sun and shade, meadow rues (here Thalictrum aquilegifolium‘Thundercloud’, zones 5 to 9) ask just for moist soil. Native Jacob’s ladder (Polemonium reptans, zones 3 to 8) prefers the identical lighting conditions.
Barbara Pintozzi
From the sunny garden, the tulips and daffodils are making their swan song, as well as the alliums, like this Allium aflatunense‘Purple Sensation’, round out the season. Planting tall alliums one of daylilies (Hemercallis) and hostas will help hide the unsightliness of the yellowing foliage after bloom.
Barbara Pintozzi
Bearded iris (Iris germanica hybrid shown) season begins in May, together with all the dwarf bearded irises early in the month, then the tall hybrid cultivars later. Reblooming irises, like the white’Immortality’ along with the purple’Rosalie Figg’, do double duty by blooming again in the fall.
Barbara Pintozzi
The beardless irises also begin their season in May. The earliest of the Siberian irises (Iris sibirica) begin blooming in May, although the late-blooming cultivars wait until June. The iris native to the Great Lakes is your wetland blue flag iris (Iris virginica var. shrevei). Easier to incorporate into a garden is the small beardless crested iris (Iris cristata shown), whichis indigenous to portions of the United States but not the Great Lakes region. It likes a bit of shade and makes a good ground cover.
Barbara Pintozzi
Garden Tasks
Plant summer annuals. After the final frost date has passed, it’s most likely safe to plant tender annuals, such as sweet potato vine (Ipomoea batatas ‘Marguerite’), shown here with petunia‘Pretty Much Picasso’. Plant Angelonia,fuchsia and dahlia. You might also plant tomatoesand peppers now.
Support plants. Place in supports for tomatoes and other plants until necessary, especially stakes for tall lilies and hoops for herbaceous peonies (Paeonia lactiflora cvs). Attaching individual stems to supports using a elastic material will prevent breakage in high winds or heavy rain.
Mulch before things heat up. Get mulching until the warmth of summer dries out the ground. There are various varieties of mulch accessible, but the most appropriate for the luminous and garden is compost. If you don’t have enough, you can purchase it bagged; several municipalities also provide compost free to residents. For the shade garden, nothing is better than leaf mold, which is rotted leaves. Absent that, shredded leaves make a decent substitute. If this looks too messy, you can use finely painted, partially rotted hardwood mulch. Save the coarser mulch for use on paths. Renew mulch throughout the growing season to keep soil moisture and to insulate against heat.
Divide snowdrops (Galanthus spp)”in the green.” Snowdrops prefer this therapy, and it is easier than trying to locate and dig them up once they have gone dormant. Replant them immediately.
Get out the patio furniture and wash down it to make it ready for grilling season and Memorial Day weekend. Then pour a glass of cold lemonade, settle back and enjoy the garden.
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