May

Key task

May is a good time to add new plants that will attract pollinators to the garden. These include astrantia, hardy geraniums, salvias and erysimum.

This month’s round up…

Although there’s plenty of jobs to get on with in the garden this month – from hardening off to sowing veg outdoors – take time to look out for froglets leaving ponds and the arrival of swifts. You may also see the common blue butterfly.

Prune

■ Clematis (early spring-flowering types)

■ Hardy fuchsias

■ Pyracanthas

■ Spring-flowering shrubs

Plant

■ Dahlia tubers in pots

■ Hardened-off seedlings of leeks and cabbages

■ Summer bedding into borders and containers – after the last frost

■ Summer bedding into hanging baskets indoors

Sow

Indoors

■ Courgettes

■ Cucumbers

■ Pumpkins

Outdoors

■ Annuals

■ Chard and spinach

■ French and runner beans

■ Peas

■ Salad leaves

■ Sprouting broccoli

■ Sweetcorn

Harvest

■ Asparagus

■ Baby beetroot

■ Broad beans

■ Lettuces

■ Pea shoots

■ Rhubarb

■ Salad leaves

■ Spring onions

■ Strawberries (grown in the greenhouse)

This month’s Star plants

One of the best irises, this variety is gently scented with a perfectly barbered beard. It will need a cane as support. It has ruffled petals and needs a sunny spot with well-drained soil.

Flowers May-June

Height x Spread 1.2m x 60cm