Is It Safe To Plant Outside?
Is It Safe To Plant Outside?
As the garden center fills with beautiful plants for the summer season, our customers are asking if they can plant what they see outdoors. “Can I put my tomatoes in?” one man asked today, and yesterday a woman called wanting to know if she could plant the basil outdoors.
Today is May 1st and we live on Cape Cod…although it will get in the upper sixties or even low seventies later in the week, the nights and our soils are still cool. Here is your general guideline for planting:
- Most perennials are safe to plant in the ground. Our perennials are placed outside when they arrive from the growers, and they are therefore used to “the real world.”
- Some annuals are more cold tolerant than others. Pansies, of course, but also snap dragons. All the annuals that are outside at the front section of our store can be planted out of doors. Those annuals that are still in our greenhouses, however, are there for a reason. If you buy these plants now, put them outside in the morning and inside at night until the nights are warmer.
- Your general rule of thumb is that you want the night temperatures to be reliably above 50 before you plant summer annuals and vegetables.
- It’s too early to plant heat-loving plants like basil, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers and beans. You can plant lettuce, kale, broccoli, pak choi and many herbs now. If you see vegetable plants outside at our store, it’s safe to plant them in your garden. But the warm weather crops can’t go in until later in May.
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