What to Plant in May – Your Planting Guide for Zone 5

When to Plant Zone 5 Vegetable Gardens

What to Plant in May – Your Planting Guide for Zone 5. Now that it’s getting warmer out during the day and nights aren’t dipping below 45, mid May is the time to plant the remaining fruits and vegetables in the garden. This would be any seedlings you have started indoors in March and April, and then direct sow the seeds for your remaining garden.

My Zone 5 location is in NE Washington State, approximately 40 miles south of the Canadian Border, at 2200 elevation, so the seedlings heading into my garden will be after May 15th.

“Zone 5 is divided into zone 5a and zone 5b – with each varying somewhat regarding planting dates (often by a couple of weeks). Planting is dictated by the first frost free date and the last frost free date, which in the case of USDA zone 5, is May 30 and October 1” – from the USDA

ZONE 5 – PLANTING GUIDE FOR MAY

This May guide is for those who live anywhere in the Pacific Northwest Zone 5 location and anyone who held off planting the vegetables that needed protection from April’s cold weather nights.

Leeks and Onions love the cool weather so make sure to plant them close to May 1st. And if you don’t want to mess around with row covers, mid May is also the time to get the potatoes in the ground.

We’ve been struggling with gophers and moles over the past few years, so instead of the growing potatoes in a trough like we did last year – this time the trough will used as our onion sanctuary. As for the potatoes – they will be growing in buckets (which will be my first year doing this so we’ll see how it works out.)

ZONE 5 – PLANTING GUIDE FOR MAY
Seedlings Started Indoors Can Be Planted Outside on May 5th

If you also didn’t get to planting Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Kohlrabi, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Kale and Collards in April, now is the time to get the seedlings in the ground. I plant them around May 5th as they get a great start with the suns warmth during the day, yet still benefit from the cool nights.

Broccoli
Brussels Sprouts
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Collards
Kale
Kohlrabi

ZONE 5 – PLANTING GUIDE FOR MAY
Seedlings Started Indoors Can Be Planted Outside on May 15th

May 15th is when I set my Eggplant, Melons, Peppers, and Tomato seedlings outside. Any time sooner than this COULD result in frosted plants as the weather up here is quite unpredictable. And truth be told I’m not one to have time covering the plants at night and uncovering them in the morning. So I just wait

Egg Plant
Melons
Peppers
Tomato

Same goes for these vegetables – it’s always safer to wait those extra 2 weeks. I direct sow the seeds for Bean, Beets, Corn, Cucumber, Summer and Winter Squash on May 15th.

Beans
Beets
Corn
Cucumber
Summer Squash
Winter Squash

While this list is not extensive at the moment, it does include the most common garden crops – and the ones I like 🙂

And there you have it – What to Plant In May – Your Planting Guide for Zone 5. Check back and see what you can be starting and doing in June. Until then – HAPPY GARDENING