Mid-May in SE Pennsylvania...Time To...
~Bring your houseplants out now. They love to summer outdoors, but not in direct sun. I don't use saucers anymore to collect pot drainage; they're mosquito magnets!
~Buy & plant annuals 'till your heart's content.
~Prune lilacs and azaleas, now that they have finished blooming.
~Plant summer bulbs/corms/tubers now. They will flower this summer: August, September, & October. My faves include tuberous begonias. They do nothing for 6 weeks or so, but then they come on strong...some fragrant, cascading, and voluptuous.
Tips, Too...
1. Weed your garden soon after it rains. Generally they pull out with ease....except for lesser celandine in my garden. I dig deeply and throw it out in chunks. Make sure to remove those white bulblets/tubers anytime you come across them in your beds. Be patient but persistent!
2. Fertilize after it rains. This helps to protect your plants from "burn."
3. Add compost to your soil before planting. I don't bother to strain it first.
4. Gardenias....don't give up on these. Just make sure that they have well-drained soil with a fertilizer, such as Osmocote, and a sprinkle of systemic insecticide. (Sneaky bugs love gardenias & you may not notice until it's too late. ) At the first sign of yellowing leaves, add liquid iron. And gardenias prefer to summer in the sun, unlike so many other houseplants.