Perennial Color
The beautiful blooms of purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) will blossom year after year in your garden. There are lots of great selections in shades of purple, such as ‘Ruby Star,’ ‘Magnus,’ and ‘Bravado.’ ‘White Swan’ and ‘White Lustre’ offer elegant white blooms. The Big Sky Series adds a new range of colors: reddish-orange (‘Sundown’), yellow (‘Harvest Moon’), and pale yellow (‘Sunrise’). All prefer well-drained soil. Improve drainage by adding some organic matter, such as composted manure, finely shredded pine bark (soil conditioner), or mushroom compost. When adding coneflowers to your garden, plant them at the same depth they were in the container and water them well until established.

Beautiful Hydrangeas
Our native oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia) blooms early. Good selections include ‘Snowflake’ and ‘Snowqueen.’ Another great native is smooth hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens); ‘Annabelle’ is the best selection.

Blackberries
Newer, larger-fruiting selections of this Southern favorite have made it a desirable addition to the garden. Thornless types such as ‘Arapaho’ and ‘Apache’ offer large fruit on upright plants. ‘Kiowa’ has thorny stems. All prefer full sun and well-drained soil. They can be grown easily along a fence or wall. Space plants 4 to 5 feet apart. Order them from Johnson Nursery, www.johnsonnursery.com, or Petals from the Past, www.petalsfromthepast.com.

Fertilizing
Feed peppers, tomatoes, squash, and tomatillos to improve plant growth and vegetable production. Use granular, timed-released fertilizers such as Osmocote Vegetable Plant Food 14-14-14 or Dynamite All-Purpose 18-6-8 for easy feeding.

Dill and Basil
Now that the soil is warm, you can add these tasty herbs to your garden or containers. For lower growing selections of dill, look for ‘Bouquet’ or ‘Fernleaf.’ There are many great selections of basil such as ‘Genovese,’ ‘Red Rubin,’ ‘Cuban,’ ‘Mrs. Burns,’ and ‘Thai.’

Great Tool
Water your garden like the pros with a Rain Wand. Its aluminum extension and nozzle let you apply a shower of water to your plants and control the amount with an easy-grip shutoff handle. Ask for one at your nursery or garden center.

FLORIDA

Caladiums
These colorful foliage plants are perfect to brighten shaded or partially shaded spots. They work well in flower beds and containers. You can even plant them in full sun if you choose the right selections. Ones that will tolerate full sun and still maintain good color include red types such as ‘Fire Chief’ and ‘Red Frill’; white ones such as ‘Aaron,’ ‘Candidum Jr.,’ and ‘Seagull’; and pink selections such as ‘Carolyn Whorton,’ ‘Rosebud,’ ‘Mrs. W.B. Haldeman,’ ‘Pink Gem,’ and ‘Lance Whorton.’ Purchase pots of caladiums and transfer to your garden for an instant effect. If you are a bit more patient, you can purchase bags of tubers and plant them. Use a slow-release granular fertilizer such as Dynamite All-Purpose 18-6-8 or Osmocote Plus 15-9-12 for months of steady, easy feeding.

Whole State
•Yellow African bulbine--It’s great to have a flower that can go a week or two between waterings. Yellow African bulbine (Bulbine frutescens), a flowering succulent native to South Africa, is very tolerant of dry, sunny sites and can thrive without lots of water once established. (Overwatering can actually cause problems.) Bulbine continuously produces an abundance of small, star-shaped yellow flowers (‘Hallmark’ has orange flowers) on numerous 2-foot-tall flower spikes. Cold-hardy and evergreen down to about 20 degrees, bulbine’s fleshy, slender, bright green leaves spread by rhizomes, producing a clump up to about 2 feet wide. The clump can easily be divided to form new plants. Few pests seem to bother the plant.
•Great Tool--Water your garden like the pros with a Rain Wand. Its aluminum extension and nozzle let you apply a shower of water to your plants and control the amount with an easy-grip shutoff handle. Ask for one at your nursery or garden center.

North and Central
•Lawns--If your grass was plagued by chamberbitter weed last summer, now is the time to take action. Chamberbitter has mimosa-like leaves and a line of round seed pods on the underside of the stem. Apply a pre-emergence herbicide such as Gallery (isoxaben) in early May. Gallery is safe for use on all warm-season lawn grasses when used according to directions. Ask for it at your local nursery.
•Flowers--Replenish your beds and containers with heat-tolerant flowers. Summer Wave Hybrid torenias will thrive as long as they receive a little protection from the harsh afternoon sun. Blue fanflower will tolerate hot, dry locations in full sun. For a little more height and good contrasting color, use orange crossandra. Central and South
•Citrus--Use a fertilizer such as Schultz Expert Gardener Citrus & Tropical Plant Food 10-4-10 to feed citrus this month.
•Palms--Feed palms again this month with a special palm fertilizer such as Vigoro Palm & Ixora Food 6-5-12 or Lesco 8-10-10 Palm and Tropical Ornamental Fertilizer.

TEXAS

Caladiums
Plant these colorful foliage plants to brighten shaded or partially shaded spots. They work well in flowerbeds and containers. You can even plant them in full sun if you choose the right selections. Sun-tolerant ones include red types such as ‘Fire Chief’ and ‘Red Frill’; white ones such as ‘Aaron,’ ‘Candidum Jr.,’ and ‘Seagull’; and pink selections such as ‘Carolyn Whorton,’ ‘Rosebud,’ ‘Mrs. W.B. Halderman,’ ‘Pink Gem,’ and ‘Lance Whorton.’ Make your life a little easier, and use a slow-release granular fertilizer such as Dynamite All-Purpose 18-6-8 or Osmocote Plus 15-9-12 for months of steady, easy feeding.

Entire State
•Great tool--Water your garden like the pros with a Rain Wand. Its aluminum extension and nozzle let you apply a shower of water to your plants and control the amount with an easy-grip shutoff handle. Ask for one at your nursery or garden center.

South
•Choosing sod--Bermuda grass is a practical choice because it can exist on natural rainfall; however, it needs to be irrigated during periods of drought or it will go dormant. St. Augustine grass will thrive in more shade than Bermuda grass but requires more water to keep it green. Buffalo grass is a good choice for dry areas and can be interplanted with bluebonnets and other wildflowers.

Panhandle
•Gourds--Select a sunny, well-drained site, and plant seeds now. Choose from the many types of gourds including bottle, birdhouse, spoon, or loofah. All of these require lots of ground, or you can train them on fences, trellises, or other structures. Gourd vines grow very rapidly and provide shade as well as flowers and fruit.

Central, East, South
•Long-blooming perennials--Salvias such autumn sage, S. ‘Indigo Spires,’ and various forms of our native mealycup sage are good choices. The spiky flowers of salvias contrast nicely with the blooms of purple coneflowers (Echinacea sp.), black-eyed Susans, and daylilies.

Central, West, and South
•Vegetables--Now is the ideal time to plant seeds of okra, squash, and Southern peas in your garden. Transplants of peppers and tomatoes are also readily available.

North and East
•Grooming roses--Remove the spent flower heads of roses to just above the first five-leaflet. Feed with a slow-release, organic fertilizer such as cottonseed or alfalfa meal at the rate of one to two cups per plant. Spread evenly over the root zone. Or use a commercial rose food, and follow label directions.

"Around Your Garden" is from the May 2008 issue of Southern Living.