Cover feature · Garden
Five cottage-border ideas to steal in May.
A grandmother's garden, reimagined in drifts of three — for zones five through eight, planted once and left mostly alone.
No. 12The May Issue · 2026
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The almanac · lunar timing
In the garden, this week.
A short, gentle calendar of what to do — informed by your zone, the moon, and forty years of editorial notes. Phase 2 of the site will expand this into a full daily almanac.
Week of May 19 · Zone 6b
In the garden, this week
Waning crescent · 12%
- TueDirect-sow beans, cucumbers, summer squash.waxing best
- WedPinch back chrysanthemums for fall bloom.any time
- ThuHarden off tomato starts; bring in if under 50°F.5 days
- SatTop-dress raised beds with finished compost.morning
- SunWeed once before flowering — easiest now.cool of day
Burlington, VTFULL ALMANAC →
6b
Your hardiness zone
Set by ZIP · change
58°
Soil temp · 4-in
↗ +6° this week
12%
Moon · waning crescent
New moon May 27
May 14
Last frost · zone 6b
From the magazine
What we're reading this week
Five quiet stories from our editors — for the morning coffee, before the day picks up.
A kitchen that takes care of itself
The five low-effort changes our editors made this spring — and the one they undid by April.
The pollinator garden that doesn't ask much
Twelve plants, a six-by-ten patch, and the patience to let it look ragged for two months.
A balcony, in twelve square feet
One of our editors moved into a tiny apartment in March. Here is the garden she built by May.
The home pillar · by room
Explore, one room at a time
Plant of the week · No. 21
Sarah Bernhardt Peony
Paeonia lactiflora 'Sarah Bernhardt'
A garden cliché for a reason. Plant her in September, watch her sulk through year one, and then — every May, on roughly the same Thursday — she'll do this. The trick is restraint: full sun, two inches of soil over the eyes, and absolutely no transplanting once she's settled.
Hardiness
3–8
Sun
Full
Water
Medium
Bloom
Late May
The garden pillar · what to grow now
Plant these in May.
From your zone, your sun, your soil — the four perennials our editors are putting in the ground this week.
Editor's picks · the long reads
Five quiet stories worth the morning.
Editor-tested · this season
Tools we'd buy again.
Quietly tested over months, then linked here. Affiliate-supported.
“A garden in May doesn't want a vision — it wants a hand, lightly, in the right two or three places.”
— Anna Veld · Editor's Letter · May 19, 2026
The home pillar · by style
Find your way of living.
Five distinct moods our editors return to. Pick one — or, like most of us, pick a quiet blend.
From our readers · this week
The notes you sent in.
Every Sunday we read what our readers have planted, fixed, kept, or let go. Here are three notes from the past week that we couldn't stop thinking about.
EMEliza M.Zone 5b · May 17
"Tried the three-drift trick last spring. Even my neighbor finally asked who my designer was."
DRDavid R.Zone 9a · May 14
"Started the morning letter as a Sunday ritual. Slowest, most useful 10 minutes of my week."
HKHannah K.Zone 7b · May 11
"Made the wooden-spoon decision. Threw out four bad ones. Feels like a small ceremony I didn't know I needed."