(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — If you've been getting out in the garden in the past week or so — especially on the warmer days — be sure you've planted the right stuff to make it through our still chilly nights.
If you have a vegetable garden going, Lisa Hilgenberg, horticulturalist in the Regenstein Fruit and Vegetable Garden of the Chicago Botanic Garden, says make sure you're planting items like spinach, radishes, beets and broccoli now.
"Nobody's got tomatoes in ground, I hope. Those are warm-season crops. So those would be planted much later in May."
Hilgenberg notes: "Spinach, radish, swiss chard, beets are all cool-season crops. The tough leaves of cabbages, collards, cauliflower, broccoli, those are plants that can take a whole lot of cold weather, even dips down between 25 and 28 degrees."
She says herbs like parsley and dill can take a bit of cold weather, too.
For flowers, Hilgenberg says you can plant things like cool season pansies but skip the begonias for now.
Hilgenberg suggests you ask an expert at your local garden center for any tips or check out the ChicagoBotanic.org website.
