Flowers In May And Beyond

It’s May – and that means it’s the time of year when gardeners will delight as their long-planted bulbs bloom, and everyone is awed by nature’s spectacular wildflower displays. May flowers are truly a joy when they appear, but there are ways you can stretch the abundance of blooms through the summer months.

If you are seeing your bulbs bloom now, then you have spring (or hardy) bulbs. Tulips, hyacinth, and daffodils are all spring bulbs. These bulbs are planted in the fall, overwinter in your garden, and need that cold period to complete their growth cycle. But there’s another type of bulb – the summer (or tender) bulb. These bulbs don’t like cold temperatures at all and need to be planted well after a last frost date. Summer bulbs include gladioli, dahlias, and lilies. It is an easy transition from one type of bloom to the other, if you follow these few basic steps at this time of year:

• Deadhead your spring-blooming bulbs but leave the foliage intact.

• While deadheading, examine your plants carefully for insect activity. Pest insects enjoy May flowers as much as we do, and you don’t want to introduce them to your next batch of flowers.

• Separate and remove any bulbs that did not thrive.

• Dig up and store any bulbs that need to be kept cool through the summer.

• Keep an eye out for any soil-dwelling pests as you dig into the dirt.

• Plant your summer bulbs amongst your spring ones.

• Summer bulbs do well in containers and look lovely on a front step or porch when in bloom.

This article is a wealth of information on bulbs and is laid out in a very easy-to-read format.

Nature rewards us in spring with wildflowers. Almost anywhere you go at this time of year, you’ll find some. Here in southern Arizona, we have been tickling summer temperatures for a while now, so our wildflower season is well behind us. But we do have reliable May blooms in the form of saguaro flowers (which is also our state flower). These gorgeous white blooms appear in jaunty clusters on the tops of the saguaros and/or the ends of their arms. Along with the flowery show comes the companion animal of the saguaro, the White-Winged Dove. This pretty little bird migrates to Mexico through the winter and early spring months and then returns to the Sonoran Desert just in time to enjoy the saguaro flowers (and subsequent fruit). This cactus and bird are a perfect example of mutualism in nature, where on species depends on another. I wrote a blog on the dove-saguaro relationship, if you want to know a little more.

Desert ecosystems notwithstanding, some of nature’s greatest flower shows are found deep in the forest. It is there, thriving in undisturbed organic material and undiluted by mankind, that you can find truly authentic wildflowers. Some of these beauties only appear for a short time and are known as “spring ephemerals”. If you are lucky enough to have a forest that you can get to in May, I recommend you do so this month. You won’t be disappointed. Here is more on spring ephemerals and forest wildflowers in the Saranac Lake region of New York, but these types of flowers can be found many other places as well.

Whether you live in the woods, at the beach, or on the prairie, you can find flowers growing around you in May. Even in the biggest of cities, keep an eye out and you’ll see them alongside raucous highways or along a neighbor’s fence line. Granted, some people may call these weeds, but they are also wildflowers. If you don’t want to go looking for wildflowers, or you want specific varieties, you can easily plant your own. There are a great many seeds available commercially that will sprout and bloom quickly so that you can enjoy wildflowers all summer long. According to this article, when planting wildflowers the most important thing is to plant them on prepared, bare ground. If you are unsure as to what will work best for you, here are some glorious suggestions. Of course, it goes without saying that the best choice would be whichever wildflowers are native to your area. 

There is one more flower that comes in May that I’d like to address: Mother’s Day flowers. Millions of women across America will be receiving some form of flower gift this coming weekend. Unfortunately, most will be dead by the next week. This article has some thorough guidelines, including type-specific care, while this floral company gives four simple steps.

Everything is blooming most recklessly; if it were voices instead of colors, there would be an unbelievable shrieking into the heart of the night – 

Rainier Maria Rilke

Happy May!

Submitted by Pam