Central Plains Gardening
Gardening Guides
Central Plains Gardener's May Checklist
Set out flowering shrubs for spectacular blooms, get veggies going and roll out the milkweed mat for butterflies
The central Great Plains of the U.S. isn't a desert of monotony. In the east, from the Missouri River into Illinois, the moisture-loving tallgrass prairie once thrived. From the Missouri River west, the rains are more sporadic, and mixed-grass prairie transitions into the shortgrass of the High Plains beneath the shadow of the Rocky Mountains. From marshland to rivers, sandhills to prairie, diversity is what makes the plains a gardener's delight.
If your garden is like mine, May blooming belongs to some spectacular shrubs — though there are some charming perennials you might not have considered. These plants bring in birds and butterflies, providing nectar and fruit; when you're not enjoying that show, it's time to bring out the veggies you started indoors a month ago.
If your garden is like mine, May blooming belongs to some spectacular shrubs — though there are some charming perennials you might not have considered. These plants bring in birds and butterflies, providing nectar and fruit; when you're not enjoying that show, it's time to bring out the veggies you started indoors a month ago.
Plant native perennials. Blue wild indigo (Baptisia australis, zones 3 to 10) is one of the first major native prairie perennials to bloom. It’s loved by bees, and it’s drought tolerant in full sun and average soil. It grows to 4 feet tall and wide and doesn’t like to be moved, so think hard about where you want its forever home to be.
Photo by Wikimedia commons user Valérie75
Photo by Wikimedia commons user Valérie75
Shooting Star (Dodecatheon meadia, zones 4 to 8) is a 12-inch-tall sun-loving, wet-clay-loving perennial with the neatest blooms. Don't they look like shooting stars? When it starts to heat up in midsummer, the plant goes dormant, so don't be worried when it vanishes.
Southern arrowwood (Viburnum dentatum, zones 3 to 8) is one of my top three favorite shrubs for seasonal interest with an easy-to-grow demeanor. A native, drought-tolerant shrub, it has May blooms that get a lot of attention from insects, who turn those flower clusters into blue berries that birds adore. There’s also nice orange and yellow color in fall.
Don't put ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius, zones 3 to 7) in a planter over winter — put it in the ground. It does best in full to partial sun, and dry to medium soil; you'll also enjoy a bonanza of blooms. Shown here is the cultivar 'Diabolo', which has reddish-purple leaves. There are gold-leaved varieties, too.
My last shrub suggestion is chokeberry, specifically the purplish-blackish fruiting black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa, zones 3 to 9). In full to partial sun and medium soil you'll get white blooms, gorgeous fruit and to-die-for red and orange fall color.
Plant most edibles after frost has passed. About two weeks before the last frost — May 8 here in Lincoln, Nebraska — plant broccoli and cauliflower in the vegetable bed. After the last frost date, you can go nuts seeding squash, watermelons, carrots, beans and sunflowers. Boy, I'm getting excited just thinking about it — if only this late winter would finally end.
What are you going to add to the garden this spring?
More regional gardening guides
What are you going to add to the garden this spring?
More regional gardening guides
To bring butterflies and other beneficial wildlife into your garden, follow these three rules:
- Never spray or use pesticides.
- Plant native nectar sources, like mountain mint, coneflower, Joe Pye Weed and asters.
- Use butterfly caterpillar host plants, like milkweed, viburnum, willow, baptisia, elm, oak and even most native grasses.
More ways to attract butterflies and bees