Z6 here can see a frost on May 26! I had that happen last spring and even after covering a huge peach/plum/apricot tree, it still had frost damages while in bloom. Also damaged my fig tree too. Usually early spring is best to relocate most plants. So now is a good time. Sage for me, dies every fall. Thyme is great and will get nice and bushy all year round. Oregano I planted last spring failed to survive our summers. It was planted right next to thyme. Garlic chives and regular ones can also be moved, but try and dig a bigger clump of soil to get all the roots. Add a little bone meal to the plantings after they are moved. It will help increase rooting. Fruit trees, berry bushes, and most plants are now good for outdoor planting as they are still near the end of dormancy. My fig is already leafing out, but is in my unheated garage, where some leaf buds are starting to open. I need to transplant outside very soon, but it weighs 70+ pounds in its big pot and is quite rootbound. Probably should have dropped it in soil last fall.

I'm not sure exactly where you are, ksrogers, but I don't think I've ever seen frost in late May where I live. I'm not far from Boston, and our temperatures seem to be somewhat tempered compared to where I grew up, farther inland (in zone 5). The frost charts tell me something like May 3rd, and my experience seems to match it.

My Berggarten sage is definitely looking like it's perking up, and I guess the jury is still out on the common sage, but let's say I have high hopes. My oregano is a descendant of the seeds I planted at my grandmother's house in RI nearly 30 years ago, coming to me by way of her yard, and then my mother's yard, and then mine, so I'm not concerned about that holding on.

I know that Spring is a good time for transplanting, but "Spring" can mean a lot of things, so I'm curious about opinions on that, specifically.

This particular bed is only herbs. Sadly, I think they'll all need to be transplanted again next year, too, because the wall wasn't built as high as it should have been to accommodate the slope of the yard, and we'll be adding another layer of height at some point.

Here, just 15 miles north of Boston, I have seen frosts later in May. Many sellers of plants like Home Depot and Lowes have lost nearly everything in mid May due to frosts. As mentioned, I had frost damages to my peach/plum/apricot. It had to be covered with a 75' x75' sheet of white fiberous plastic cloth. I didn't have the heavy weight one, and so no fruits appeared even after I manually pollinated many blossoms and used orchard mason bees. South of Boston on the cape seems to have a little mider temps. I have a 6'x8' greenhouse outside and put my seedlings out there prior to planting outdoors. They usualy get put out the second week of May. I have had to use a small heater out there overnight, so things dont die from the cold nights.

Here, just 15 miles north of Boston

Ah, that will make all the difference! It's amazing what a few miles can do, especially when you're talking about proximity to the ocean and the city (which gives off a whole lot of heat).

I'll be watching the temperatures, of course. I was expecting to put the warm-weather stuff out somewhere around mid-May.

Careful with that date. Frosts are very hard to predict in late May. Thats the main reason I only saw two plums on my grafted tree two years ago, and zero last year. The tree was loaded with open flowers, and even after the overnight frost, they still never developed into any fruits. The tree has different grafted limbs and some bloom earlier and the plum is the last to bloom. Its always been non productive, and I am considering cutting it down if it doesn't do better this seaopn. Instead, Ill just plant apricots on a dwarf tree. I just hope that my 4 grafted Pluot tree has survived a partial coming out of dormancy and then planted outside, after it started to show green buds. The day after it was planted we had about 10 inches of snow, and its been quite cold the last few weeks until today, where its in the 50's. Robins are back again, and are grazing my open garden soil looking for their worms.

Well, I don't have fruit trees of any sort. I'd love to, but I don't.

Beyond that, I've lived and gardened in New England my whole life, and come from a long line of New England gardeners (who never grew herbs, as it turns out, so I am blazing the trail). I also learned when I moved to the Boston area almost 22 years ago that things are a little different here, and the proximity to the ocean and the city have an effect on temperatures.

I have never in my life lost a plant due to Spring frost damage, so I have to think that something I'm doing is more or less all right. One time in the early 80s my grandmother and I planted our beans when it was too early and wet, and they didn't come up...but that's as close as it gets. Maybe this year will be the first time, but I suppose only time will tell, and if I lose my tomatoes, I'll get myself some new ones.

Nevertheless, none of this has anything to do with perennial herbs that have survived just fine through the snows, winds, and bitterly cold temperatures of Winter. I'm sure that none of them will be hurt by a cold snap in May...but I am still wondering if sooner or later would be the most advantageous time for relocating them.

I used to start about 200 tomato and 200 pepper plants indoors. One year, I was anxious to put them outside as they were started indoors way too early in March. The tomato plants were over 3 feet tall indoors, and were all moved to my small greenhouse about May 10. They were getting used to strong sunlight and my greenhouse could reach 110 degrees inside if I left the door closed. I used fans and a small electric heater for about a week, and then started to transplant into the garden area about May 22. About two days later, we had a sudden frost and I lost about 3/4 of all the plants. The frost lasted only about 3 hours and I was outside all night spraying water on the plants in hopes of preventing any from freezing. I recall the terrible sound of the water spray which was like tiny hail falling on the foliage. I only had a small piece of heavy weight plastic cloth to protect maybe 20 plants. The rest were all lost to frost. Obviously, that year, I had very few tomatoes and was forced to buy some plants that were types that were just too watery for making canned sauces. After that major lost (about 12 years ago), I decided it was too early. Most local nurseries also lost many plants that year.