May Gardening in Tucson

Hot and sweaty May.  Sometimes the 100 plus days wait until the end of the month while in other years, we suffer the oven like temps during the first week. Put on your gardening hat for May chores around your garden......

What you should plant.....

• Warm season veggies
• Butterfly nectar-Sow warm-season annuals with flowers that have flat surfaces, which act as landing pads for butterflies.  Blanket flower, sunflower, tithonia and zinnia are easy-to-grow choices, especially when gardening with children.  Transplant perennial angelita daisy, desert marigold, lantana and my favorite.....Eupatorium greggii, whose fuzzy lavender-blue flowers are favored by butterflies from late spring through fall.  See previous posts about butterfly plants for the garden on this blog.
• Artemisia-Its silvery sage-like foliage(good for moonlight gardens) is a great accent for more brightly colored plants, and its stems add attractive filler for naturalistic bouquets.  Artemisia takes full sun, is drought-tolerant and generally seems unpalatable to rabbits.

Maintenance

• Harvest-Pick prickly pear pads for making nopalitos when young and tender.  Harvest the rest of your remaining Valencia oranges and grapefruit through May.  Dig up onions and garlic when above ground tops dry, brown or tip over.  Store in cool location.
• Prepare irrigation for summer.  Check your irrigation systems for leaks or clogged emitters.  Be sure sprinklers cover the entire lawn area without overspraying and wasting water on hardscape. Sometimes our wildlife like to munch on this nice water sources. It'll save you money and from wasting water so check them out.   The Arizona Municipal Water Users Association provides watering guidelines for all plant types.   Go to http://www.amwua.org/ and click on Landscape Watering Guidelines.
• Mulch and trap in that valuable moisture.  Apply several inches or organic mulch around the bases of plants and garden beds.  Mulch maintains soil moisture, reduces soil temperature in the root zone, and inhibits weed germination. As mulch breaks down over time, it add nutrients to the soil.  CAUTION!!  Do not put mulch against base of shrubs or trees as it can cause rot.

Source:  Phoenix Home and Garden

There you have it.....May. Enjoy the work you've done these past couple months as you've earned it!  Once summer arrives, our primary concern is keeping our green friends watered and happy:) Tomorrow is an important posting on being firewise smart around your landscape during this Fire Season.  Until next time, wear that gardening hat......