Greens, beans and tulip scenes
Which veges can you plant in May?
Brassica and silverbeet seedlings can go in everywhere, plus celery, kale, lettuces and spinach up north. You can sow trays or plant seedlings of miner’s lettuce, rocket, Asian greens, red-leafed and cos lettuce, and wintermesclun mixes too.
In warmer parts of the country you can sow carrots, radishes, beetroot, swedes and turnips direct. In colder places where soil is sodden or frozen, hold off until spring or try pots where the drainage is better and the soil temperature a little higher (plus you can move pots around to take advantage of sheltered spots by your house or inside a tunnelhouse).
Wherever you are, you can sow peas and broad beans which will germinate in quite cold soil (although in very cold places start them in trays).
Give new roses a head start
If a rose is not planted correctly, it will bemiserable all of its life. Choosing the right spot to plant a rose is hugely important. Don’t put it where another rose has been recently taken out unless you replace the soil.
If the rose will need a trellis or other support, plan this in advance – but allow yourself room to move as it is awkward to plant a rose under a tripod or obelisk if it is fixed in place.
Bare-rooted roses must be pruned to approximately 12cm from ground level and just above a strong, outwardfacing bud. This encourages new shoots to grow from the base rather than the top, which results in leggy, awkward plants.
Choose a spot that gets sun for at least half the day. Dig a hole deep enough for the bud union (where the branches meet at the base of the plant) to bewell coveredwith soil. Add goodquality pottingmix. Place the rose in the hole so that its roots are spread out comfortably. Fill in the hole with damp soil.
Container-grown roses can be treated in much the sameway except the rose may already have been pruned.
Plant tulips
If you live in awarmer area of the country, ideally you should chill your tulips for sixweeks prior to planting so that the bud can complete its development and to ensure the plants have nice, long stems. If you haven’t done this already, delay planting until early June.
Put the bulbs in the fridge in a paper bag and keep them away from fruit, such as apples and bananas that produce the ripening gas ethylene, which can prevent flower and root formation.
Plant tulips around 20cm deep in free-draining soil in full sun. Work the soil to at least 35cm to allow space for root development. If you have a heavy clay soil, dig a hole and fill it with grit and/or specialised bulbmix, or plant tulips in pots. Feed with bulb fertiliser once flowering.