Southeast gardens May checklist

Happy May, lots to do this month!

by Helen Yoest, author of Gardening with Confidence www.houzz.com

May brings the end of pine pollen and the unofficial start of summer with the long Memorial Day weekend. Let the prime gardening season begin. Here’s what you can do in the Southeast garden this month.

Admire blooming trees and shrubs. May is bloom time for southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora). These flowers give so much, and we need to do so little for them in return. I like to pluck a magnolia bloom and float it in a bowl of water near where I read or enjoy the garden at the end of the day. It lasts but a day, but what a day it is.

The Endless Summer hydrangea is the first hydrangea to bloom on old and new growth, with the ability to rebloom all summer long. I planted my Endless Summer in 2005. To encourage reblooming, cut the blooms for drying or to put in vases for a fresh arrangement. This will also encourage the plant to set new buds.

Prune rhododendrons and azaleas right after flowering.

Enjoy abundant rose blooms. Roses are in full swing right now. Let your roses flesh out; prune less in May so they grow taller. This is usually good advice for the first couple of cuttings. Then you can prune at will, remembering to cut the next five leaflets at an angle.

Roses are heavy feeders — in terms of both food and water. Fertilize once a month and give each rose about 5 gallons of water each week (or about 1 inch per week). Water in the morning, at the base of the plant to help discourage black spot.

Cherish blooming iris. Oh, the irises are blooming their little heads off. After they bloom, cut the flower stalks to tidy up the plant. Recently I cut some for a friend. She took a whiff and realized, for the first time, that bearded irises have a lovely scent — making them enjoyable indoors too.

Cut the flower stalks of daffodils. Try to ignore the leaves as the plants naturally die back.