--- title: "What to Plant in May for a Blockbuster 2026 Garden" description: "When spring warmth and moisture kick in each May, gardeners are ready to plant as soon as their last frost dates allow; many green thumbs look forward to Mother's Day as the day they get their transplants into the ground.…" date: "2024-05-13" modified: "2026-04-30" authors: - name: "Audrey Stallsmith" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://www.bobvila.com/authors/audrey-stallsmith/" url: "https://www.bobvila.com/articles/what-to-plant-in-may/" categories: - "Gardening" - "Lawn & Garden" tags: - "gardening" - "News" --- # What to Plant in May for a Blockbuster 2026 Garden ![Woman planting flowers and greenery in a backyard garden flowerbed.]() *Photo: ronstik via Adobe Stock* When spring warmth and moisture kick in each May, gardeners are ready to plant as soon as their last frost dates allow; many green thumbs look forward to Mother's Day as the day they get their transplants into the ground. If you're wondering what to plant in May and live in a zone in which you're just now starting to plant, the key is to avoid species that require a long head start. Lisianthuses, for example, take 140 to 150 days to progress from seed to bloom, so they need to be [sown indoors]() in late winter. Zinnias, on the other hand, often bloom within 75 days, making them terrific flowers to direct-sow in May. You also can expedite growth by starting some flower species from bulbs rather than seeds. As for fruits, herbs, and vegetables, May is a good time to plant fast-maturing types such as beans and plants like melons, which require warm soil to germinate well. ## 1. Begonia (Begonia x tuberhybrida) ![Close up of begonia flowers in the garden.]() *Photo: surasaki via Adobe Stock* Among the showiest plants for shade, tuberous [begonias]() come in upright-growing or trailing plants 12 to 18 inches tall with asymmetrical leaves and large double blooms or smaller, more shredded-looking posies. If planted after the danger of frost has passed, they should bloom in midsummer and even into early fall. Dig up the tubers in fall to overwinter them indoors, and plant them again next spring. **Best For**: Containers, edging, shade gardens **USDA Zones**: Hardy in 9 to 11; annual in others ## 2. Caladium (Caladium spp.) ![A potted plant with large pink and green leaves.]() *Photo: iStock* Add caladiums to your spring planting list for their colorful foliage. Varying in size from 6 inches to 4 feet, these [shade-loving plants]() have intricately “painted” arrowhead or heart-shaped leaves. Since they need warm nighttime and soil temperatures of 65 degrees Fahrenheit or more, May is a good planting time in most regions. Growers can store their tubers over winter or keep the plants in pots to serve as houseplants for humid rooms during the coldest months. **Best For**: Borders, [container gardens](), shade gardens **USDA Zones**: 9 to 11; annual in other zones ## 3. Calla Lily (Zantedeschia spp.) ![Calla lily (Zantedeschia) flowers in the garden.]() *Photo: Tula L via Adobe Stock* Call on [calla lilies]() for blooms from midsummer through autumn. Varying in height from 1 to 4 feet, they also offer arrowhead-shaped leaves, but theirs are accompanied by elegantly spathe-shaped flowers in a variety of colors. Calla lilies also need warm soil, so plant in May once soil temperatures reach at least 65 degrees Fahrenheit. Although you can dig and store the rhizomes of hybrid callas over winter, plants of common calla (*Zantedeschia aethiopica*) should be kept growing as houseplants where they aren’t hardy. **Best For**: Containers, cutting gardens, [rain gardens]() **USDA Zones**: 7 to 10; annual in colder areas ## 4. Canna (Canna spp.) ![Yellow canna lily flowers with splashes of orange colors on the petals.]() *Photo: iStock* When choosing what to plant in spring, [select cannas]() for their canna-do attitude and late summer performance when other flowers are fading. Varying in height from 18 inches to 8 feet, they often offer blazing color in their striped or spattered lance-like leaves as well as in their gladiolus-like blooms. You can store their rhizomes indoors over winter, but be sure to keep them above 40 degrees Fahrenheit. **Best For**: Borders, large containers, rain gardens **USDA Zones**: 6 to 10 ## 5. Dahlia (Dahlia spp.) ![Large, pink and round Dahlia flowers in garden.]() *Photo: iStock* You’ll also want to dally with dahlias which, like cannas, tend to bloom in late summer and autumn in the coldest zones, and can be overwintered and replanted in the spring. May planting after danger of frost has passed works best, but for earlier flowering, you can start tubers indoors a few weeks before setting them out after the frost. [Dahlias]() range from 1 to 7 feet in height, their foliage from simple to compound, and their blooms from single 2-inch types to double 12-inch dinner-plate diameter flowers. **Best for**: Borders, cottage gardens, cutting gardens **USDA Zones**: 7 to 10; annual in others ## 6. Gladiolus (Gladiolus spp.) ![A close up of a pink gladiolus flower in a field of flowers.]() *Photo: iStock* Finally, grab some glads for garden gladness. Varying in height from 1 to 6 feet, [gladiolas]() make sword-shaped foliage and spikes of showy tubular blooms—from bottom to top rather than from the top to bottom of their stems. If started after all danger of frost has passed, they generally will bloom from mid to late summer, after which you can allow them to die back before storing their corms over winter. **Best for**: Borders, cutting gardens, flowerbeds **USDA Zones**: 7 to 10; store indoors where colder ## 7. Cosmos (Cosmos spp.) ![A flower field of pink and white cosmos flowers.]() *Photo: iStock* As we continue this spring planting guide with annual flowers grown from May bulbs or seeds, we’ll want to include cosmos for the “most-est” cultivars. Offering a wide variety of new hues generated in recent years, these plants grow from 2 to 8 feet with ferny foliage and 2- to 4-inch single or double wide-petaled blooms in a wide variety of colors. Easy to grow from seed directly sown in your garden, they should begin to bloom in about 75 days and continue until frost. **Best For**: Borders, [cutting gardens](), flowerbeds **USDA Zones**: As an annual in 2 through 11 ## 8. Morning Glory (Ipomoea spp.) ![A group of purple morning glory blooms on green vines.]() *Photo: iStock* Make your morning more glorious with [morning glories](), which will need to be planted near a trellis on which their vines of heart-shaped leaves can climb to heights of up to 30 feet. Sow the seeds once May soil temperatures reach 65 degrees Fahrenheit, but don’t expect flowering plants in May. These vines typically don’t unfurl their funnel-shaped 1½- to 6-inch diameter blooms until mid- to late summer. **Best For**: Containers, fences, trellises **USDA Zones**: 9 to 11; annual in others ## 9. Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus) ![]() *Photo: iStock Alexander - stock.adobe.com* Among other plants for May sowing are large-seeded nasturtiums. They grow quickly and offer “nose-twisting” edible leaves. The leaves are shield-shaped and have a peppery flavor. Spurred, 5-petaled flowers (also edible) bloom for most of the summer. [Nasturtiums]() typically don’t surpass 18 inches high, but there also are vining types that will scramble to 6 feet. Avoid applying much [garden fertilizer]() to them since they prefer to be grown lean for the most profuse flowering. **Best For**: containers, salad gardens, vegetable gardens **USDA Zones**: Perennial vine in 9 to 11; annual elsewhere ## 10. Sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) ![A variety of sunflowers growing against a blue sky]() *Photo: Margaret Johnson via Adobe Stock* With rayed flowers like miniature suns, [sunflowers are easy to grow](), and some may begin to bloom only 60 days after their sowing in the spring (when soil temperatures reach at least 50 degrees Fahrenheit). They grow to heights between 1 and 15 feet and produce flowers 2 inches to 2 feet wide. Sunflower seeds also nurture wild birds in autumn, no bird feeders required. **Best For**: Cottage gardens, cutting gardens, pollinator gardens **USDA Zones**: Annual in 2 through 11 ## 11. Zinnias (Zinnia spp.) ![A field of zinnia flowers of various colors.]() *Photo: iStock* [Zinnias]() can begin to bloom 75 days after direct-sowing seeds in the garden. They range from 8 inches to 4 feet high and their roundish blooms vary in size from under an inch in diameter to 7 inches. According to *The New Sunset Western Garden Book*, zinnias “do not gain from being planted early; they merely stand still until the weather warms up.” This is why we say: Wait to plant in May. **Best For**: Borders, cutting gardens, pollinator gardens **USDA Zones**: Annual in 3 through 10 ## 12. Beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) ![Green bean plant with climbing vines and bean pods.]() *Photo: iStock* Beans like heat and won’t stand frost. With their 3-leaved foliage, sweet pea-like blossoms, and long, edible pods, [green beans]() are easy to sow and can mature in as few as 50 days. You may want to do succession plantings to guarantee yourself a continuing supply, starting when soil temperatures reach at least 55 degrees Fahrenheit. **Best For**: Vegetable gardens **USDA Zones**: Annual in 2 through 11 ## 13. Borage (Borago officinalis) ![Close up of blue borage flowers in garden.]() *Photo: iStock* An annual herb, borage, which is reputed to stimulate courage, should be sown directly into the garden after the danger of frost has passed. It does not like to be it transplanted. Once established, it grows to 3 feet and self-sows reliably, so you probably won’t need to plant it again. Valued for its fuzzy cucumber-flavored leaves and edible star-shaped, true-blue flowers, it will gild your garden and your salads. **Best For**: Herb gardens, pollinator gardens, salad gardens **USDA Zones**: Annual in 2 through 11 ## 14. Carrots (Daucus carota subsp. sativus) ![A hand pulling a carrot from garden.]() *Photo: iStock* [Growing carrots is simple](), since they only take about 60 days to mature; some finger varieties can be ready in 30 days. Cultivars vary in height from 3 inches to 3 feet, with ferny foliage and finger-shaped orange or purple taproots that reach 1 to 12 inches down into the soil. Typically, they need to be sown a few weeks before the last frost in spring, and again before the first fall frost. In colder zones, plant in early May for a summer crop. **Best For**: Children’s gardens, containers, vegetable gardens **USDA Zones**: Annual in 2 through 11 ## 15. Cucumbers (Cucumis sativus) ![Two cucumbers hanging on cucumber plant in garden.]() *Photo: iStock* Cucumbers don’t like chilly temperatures, so you will want to wait until May and warmer soil to sow or plant them. Growing between 8 and 18 inches tall with large hairy leaves and spreading up to 8 feet, [cucumbers]() make yellow 5-petal flowers and cylindrical green fruits that generally aren’t picked until they are at least 3 inches long. The vines usually require at least 55 to 65 days to produce a harvest. **Best For**: Fences, trellises, vegetable gardens **USDA Zones**: Annual in 2 through 11 ## 16. Dill (Anethum graveolens) ![Dill plants growing in a row in dark soil.]() *Photo: iStock* Like borage, dill is an annual herb that gardeners should sow directly in the soil, and May is a good time, since the herb prefers temperatures of at least 70 degrees Fahrenheit. The resemblance ends there, however, as [dill grows]() to 4 or 5 feet with ferny foliage and 6-inch clusters of yellow flowers. In addition to its seeds making a dilly of a pickle, the herb’s foliage can be picked and dried for the seasoning called dill weed. Simply let one of the plants go to seed if you want new dill plants to sprout the following year. **Best For**: Herb gardens, pollinator gardens, vegetable gardens **USDA Zones**: Annual in 2 to 11, can reseed ## 17. Melons (Cucumis melo) ![A melon growing on garden trellis.]() *Photo: iStock* Melons will be melancholy—and possibly not sprout—if sown during cool weather. Therefore, you probably won’t want to plant these [heat-tolerant fruits]() until a couple of weeks after your last frost date, just to be on the safe side. Some black plastic beneath the vines to absorb the sun’s rays and [organic fertilizer]() should help the plants to grow in May. Muskmelons typically vine from 6 to 9 feet with roundish or shallowly lobed hairy leaves and yellow blooms followed by netted fruits after 75 to 100 days. **Best For**: fences, trellises, vegetable gardens **USDA Zones**: Annual in 2 to 11, with added heat in colder zones ## 18. Squash (Cucurbita spp.) ![A large squash flower and yellow squash on vegetable plant.]() *Photo: iStock* Both summer and winter squash love heat and may be started in May since winter squash doesn’t actually grow in winter. It just stores better during that season than [summer squash]() does. Squash plants vary in height from 1 to 3 feet and sprawl from 2 to 25 feet with large, prickly, often lobed leaves. They produce huge (3- to 6-inch) yellow blooms followed by fruits that vary in size and shape according to type and cultivar. Summer squashes are harvested while still tender (in 50 to 60 days) and winter squashes after they develop a hard rind in 85 to 120 days. **Best For**: Vegetable gardens **USDA Zones**: Annual in 5 through 10 ## 19. Sweet Corn (Zea mays subsp. rugosa) ![Yellow corn among field of corn stalks.]() *Photo: iStock* Although it might sound corny, folklore advocates that corn be sown when dogwoods are in full bloom. The [University of Maryland Extension]() emphasizes that “super-sweet varieties” should be planted when soil temperatures reach 65 degrees Fahrenheit. The office also says that “Pre-germinating seed before planting in cool, spring soil may help prevent soil rot.” So, if you want your corn to reach its full 5 to 10 feet height and bear those [sweet ears](), don’t plant it until a couple weeks after your last frost date. **Best For**: Vegetable gardens **USDA Zones**: Annual in zones 2 through 9 ## Author A writer for over 30 years, Audrey Stallsmith has specialized in garden-related nonfiction for the last 10 years. She has been writing for BobVila.com since October of 2020 and is also a mystery novelist and photographer.