Despite warmer weather, risk of frost still possible in May

HADLEY, Mass. (WWLP) – Gardeners may want to hold back on bringing plants out this week. With low temperatures rising nearly 20 degrees this week, the weather seems to be getting better but if last year told us anything, its that we can’t be too careful.

Walking outside, you’ll see some flowers and other plant already starting to bloom. While this may be a good thing for those wanting an early start on their garden, don’t be too quick to act.

Eric Tiedeman-Mau with Hadley Garden Center told 22News the risks of planting early, “You see, a lot of things that flower, and then the danger is that if it gets back to the cold temperatures, those flowers can be killed. So we have to be really careful of things like annuals that will die in those cold temperatures, but even some of the perennial or fruiting plants, if those flower buds get killed, that they won’t produce fruit later on in the season.”

There are many different types of plants; annuals, perennials even some trees and they all need different conditions to survive but as a good rule of thumb, once those temperatures start to hit the 30s, that’s when you should be worried. One solution is to start planting indoors until the warmer months, but even this method also has it’s cons.

“It’s really problematic to have to bring house plants in and out on a regular basis with these cold temperatures. So I typically wait until early June to bring anything out just to be safe,” said Tiedeman-Mau.

While freezing temperatures aren’t common in the month of May, a frost in May of last year killed thousands of flowers and crops across western Massachusetts. If it’s too late and you’ve already planted those tomatoes, stay up to date with the weather and cover your plants in a thin sheet just before it freezes.

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