What to Plant in May: Front Range of Colorado
Hello and happy May! The weather will finally start to warm up enough for our warm season veggies, and we will likely have our last frost between May 5-15, but of course that’s variable.
Rough timing is good to keep in mind, but everyone’s situation is different. These are my recommendations based on what has worked for myself in this region throughout the years (though I’ve been known to not follow the “rules”!). Experiment and find what works for you! Read on for ideas for what to plant on the Front Range of Colorado (Colorado Springs to Fort Collins) this month.
The guide is for an approximate last frost date of May 5-15, but of course in Colorado it can vary a lot year to year.
First Half of May:
Indoors: it’s a good time for cucurbits - cucumbers, squash, melons. Small, sturdy plants transplant well in my experience, but keep in mind that in many cases it’s easier and may be more successful to direct sow. If you have problems with mice, voles, or insects, you can try transplanting and protecting them when you plant. I typically start my cucurbits indoors May 1-7 for end-of-May transplant. I do about half and half direct sowing and transplanting.
Direct sowing: turnips, carrots, radish, beets, potatoes if you didn’t get them in last month, bok choy, spinach, lettuce, chard arugula, and you could try more kale. The window is closing on the cool season veggies. It depends on the year, and if you’ve gardened here a while I’m sure you’ve noticed - most years we go from cold to hot fast, and some years we have a little more of a spring, so it will be hit or miss how your late-planted cool season veg do, but definitely worth a try if you have the seeds. Coming up to mid month you can direct sow cucurbits, corn, beans.
Transplanting: if you haven’t already, get your cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, kale, and onion family starts/sets transplanted.
Hold tight on warm season veggies unless you have season extension structures.
Second Half of May
Direct sowing: now is a good time to direct sow cucurbits (winter and summer squash, melons, and cucumbers), corn, and beans. Also, continue succession plantings of radish, carrots, beets, and turnips. If you have seeds on hand of cool season veggies I mentioned for the first half of May and haven’t gotten them out yet or want to get another succession planting in, might as well try!
Transplanting: during the second half of May you can look at nighttime temperatures to decide when to plant your warm season veggies - tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, tomatillos, cucumbers, melons, and squash. Peppers and cucurbits will especially appreciate the warm nighttime temperatures, so check that night temperatures are staying around 50 degrees. Tomatoes will appreciate the same, but can tolerate a touch colder, especially if you have varieties that are adapted to cold climates. If you have season extension, you can try getting these out sooner. I typically wait until Memorial Day weekend to plant my warm season veggies and I’ve planted as late as the first week of June. As long as you aren’t growing long season varieties it’s usually fine (barring an unusually early fall frost).
If you have any more cool season veggie starts (like me!) try to get them planted as soon as you can. Asian greens, kohlrabi, kale, lettuce, chard, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, onion family starts/sets, potatoes.
For a deeper dive, check out my articles on seed starting:
Seed Starting Step-by-Step Tutorial
Seed Starting - After Germination
Meet me over on facebook or instagram to comment on my posts to tell me what you’re starting now, and with any questions.
Happy Planting!
