May is the green-to-gold turning point. The lowlands dry and tan while the Sierra wakes from snow and the coast holds its cool, foggy spring. Bird migration peaks, the seabird colonies fill, and the first warm-season fruit reaches the markets.
Week by week in May
April 30 – May 6
- Spring migration climaxes; lazuli buntings, warbling vireos, and Bullock's orioles settle to nest in the riparian woods.
- The Eta Aquariid meteor shower, debris from Halley's Comet, peaks in early May, best before dawn from the south.
- Stockton-Lodi cherries reach their brief, brilliant peak — Bings, Rainiers, and Brooks.
- Snowmelt unlocks the first montane bloom — shooting stars and corn lilies in the wettest Sierra meadows.
May 7–13
- Monterey Bay is superb as the spring upwelling draws sooty shearwaters in by the thousands.
- The first apricots and early peaches and nectarines show from the warmer valley orchards.
- Finish setting out warm-season crops in the lowlands before the heat builds; water deeply and mulch.
- Dogwoods bloom white in Yosemite Valley as the Sierra finally greens.
May 14–20
- Late-spring flowers shine on the drying slopes — mariposa lilies, elegant clarkia, and farewell-to-spring.
- California tortoiseshells can appear in remarkable numbers in the foothills and mountains.
- The California condor ranges over Big Sur and Pinnacles as the mountain birds nest.
- On the cool coast, June gloom keeps gardens comfortable; in the Sierra the short season finally opens.
May 21–27
- The first summer squash, green beans, and tender new potatoes arrive as cherry season holds.
- The California buckeye reaches its peak with tall white-to-pink flower spikes scenting the warm air.
- The chaparral carries its summer flowers — California buckwheat, native sages, and woolly bluecurls.
- High-country specialties — mountain quail, Cassin's finch, green-tailed towhee — are nesting in the Sierra.
May 28 – June 3
- The High Sierra bursts into bloom as snowmelt floods Tuolumne Meadows and the high basins.
- The first big wave of Central Valley peaches, nectarines, and plums arrives, fragrant and ripe.
- Fritillaries, alpine blues, and pale parnassians work the opening Sierra meadows.
- Mountain chickadees, Williamson's sapsuckers, and hermit warblers fill the montane forest as the Sierra opens.
Birds This Month
May is the climax of spring migration and the height of the breeding season in California. The riparian woodlands, oak canyons, and montane forests are full of song as the neotropical migrants settle to nest: warbling vireos, western tanagers, black-headed grosbeaks, lazuli buntings, Bullock's orioles, Wilson's and yellow warblers, and Swainson's thrushes are all on territory. The last northbound migrants — late flycatchers, vireos, and shorebirds — push through, and a coastal point on a May morning can still produce a surprising vagrant.
The seabird colonies are at full tilt now. Common murres, pigeon guillemots, Brandt's cormorants, and western gulls jam the offshore rocks and the Farallones, and elegant terns and Heermann's gulls crowd the Southern California coast. Monterey Bay is superb, with the first sooty shearwaters streaming in by the thousands and the spring upwelling drawing whales and seabirds close to shore.
In the high country, the mountain quail, Williamson's sapsucker, green-tailed towhee, and Cassin's finch are nesting as the Sierra wakes, and the California condor ranges over Big Sur and Pinnacles. The valley and grasslands ring with western meadowlarks and nesting Swainson's hawks.
This month's tip: take a Monterey Bay boat trip or scan from the headlands — the spring upwelling makes May one of the best months of the year for whales, shearwaters, and the bay's spectacular seabird life.
What's Blooming
May splits California into two flower worlds. In the lowlands and foothills the spring bloom is fading as the hills turn gold, but the late-spring flowers put on a final, elegant show: mariposa lilies open their painted goblets across the foothill grasslands, elegant clarkia and farewell-to-spring color the drying slopes, and California buckwheat, native sages, monkeyflowers, and matilija poppy (the spectacular "fried-egg" flower) carry the chaparral toward summer.
The coast stays cool and floriferous — the bluffs at Point Reyes and Big Sur still hold seaside daisy, coast paintbrush, lizard tail, and wild iris. And in the high country, the snowmelt is just unlocking the first alpine and montane bloom: shooting stars, buttercups, and corn lilies push up in the wettest Sierra meadows as the season begins at elevation.
Where to see it: the coast and the higher foothills hold the best lowland color now — walk a coastal headland or a shaded foothill canyon. For the freshest flowers, follow spring uphill: the Sierra foothills and the first opening meadows above the snowline. Stay on trails and leave the flowers to set seed; in a dry-summer state, every wildflower depends on the seed it makes in spring.
Garden This Month
May is the last call for warm-season planting in the lowlands and the opening of the season in the mountains. In the valley and inland zones, finish setting out tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, squash, melons, corn, and okra early in the month, before the heat builds — these crops need to establish before the dry, hot weather settles in. On the cool coast, planting continues comfortably under the fog.
The defining May task across most of California is water management. The winter rains are over and little to none will fall until autumn, so functioning drip irrigation and deep mulch are now essential — the garden depends entirely on you. Water deeply and less often to encourage deep roots, and mulch every bed to slow evaporation and keep soil temperatures down. Keep harvesting and successively sowing beans and basil, feed the tomatoes, and watch for the season's first pests — aphids, whiteflies, and spider mites — in the warming weather. In the Sierra, the short, intense growing season is just beginning.
Zone 10a (mild coast, Los Angeles basin): the cool coast lets you keep planting tomatoes, peppers, and squash, and the fog moderates the heat. Watch for whitefly and aphids, mulch to hold moisture, and keep planting heat-tolerant herbs and flowers through the mild coastal spring.
Zone 6b (Sierra Nevada): the high-country season finally opens as the snow clears — transplant tomatoes and peppers once frost danger has truly passed (often late May or June), and direct-sow beans, squash, and quick crops. The short, cool Sierra summer favors cold-tolerant and fast-maturing varieties.
Zone 9b (Central Valley, inland Southern California): finish setting out all warm-season crops early in the month — tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, squash, melons, and okra — and mulch deeply, because the valley heat arrives fast. Set up and check drip irrigation now; from here on the garden depends entirely on you for water.
What's at the Farmers Market
May is one of the most exciting months at the California market as spring fruit pours in. Cherries from the San Joaquin and the Stockton-Lodi district reach their brief, brilliant peak — Bings, Rainiers, and Brooks — and the first apricots and early peaches and nectarines begin to show from the warmer valley orchards. Strawberries from Watsonville and the Central Coast are at their absolute height, deep red and fragrant.
The spring vegetables are still strong: English peas, sugar snap and snow peas, fava beans, the last of the asparagus and artichokes, sweet spring onions, spring garlic, and crisp spring lettuces. The first summer squash, green beans, and tender new potatoes arrive late in the month, and Valencia oranges and Southern California Hass avocados hold their long peak.
For selection and storage: choose cherries that are firm, glossy, and still on green stems and keep them cold; pick apricots fragrant and just-soft and ripen them on the counter; keep strawberries cold, dry, and used quickly. Cherry season is short — when you see the first good ones, buy them, because the window closes fast.
Night Sky This Month
May nights warm and lengthen, and the high country's dark-sky places come fully online as Sierra roads reopen. Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, and Lassen Volcanic National Park offer superb mountain skies, while Death Valley and Joshua Tree remain excellent before the worst desert heat. May is prime star-party season — watch for public nights at Lick and Mount Wilson observatories and at local astronomy clubs, and for the Sierra clubs' first high-elevation gatherings.
The spring sky is at its best in the evening: Leo rides high in the west, Virgo with bright Spica dominates the south, and orange Arcturus in Boötes blazes high overhead. The Big Dipper is at the top of the sky, perfect for tracing the spring stars. Late in the evening, the summer sky begins to rise in the east — the first stars of Scorpius, led by red Antares, and the bright Summer Triangle climbing after midnight.
The Eta Aquariid meteor shower, debris from Halley's Comet, peaks in early May, best in the hours before dawn from a dark southern-California site. For this year's planet positions and exact dark nights, see the printable California night-sky guide.
Butterflies & Pollinators
May is a rich butterfly month, the action spreading from the drying lowlands up into the mountains. In the foothills and oak woodlands the California sister, western tiger swallowtail, pale swallowtail, and pipevine swallowtail patrol the canyons, and the resident monarchs continue breeding on lowland milkweed. The native buckwheats and sages coming into bloom feed a host of blues, hairstreaks, and coppers.
As the spring bloom dries, the high country takes over. The opening Sierra meadows draw fritillaries, alpine blues and coppers, parnassians (the pale, red-spotted apollos of the high country), and mountain checkerspots as the snowmelt flowers appear. Along the coast and in gardens, gulf fritillaries, anise swallowtails, painted ladies, and West Coast ladies stay on the wing.
To help them: as the wild bloom fades in the lowlands, native nectar plants in the garden become important — California buckwheat, native sages, yarrow, coyote mint, and seaside daisy will carry pollinators through the long dry summer. Keep native milkweed growing and well-watered for the breeding monarchs, and provide a shallow puddling spot where male butterflies can drink minerals from damp soil.
What to plant for them is in the California native plants guide
Trees This Month
May is the month California's trees brace for the dry season. In the foothills, the drought-deciduous California buckeye reaches its spectacular peak — tall white-to-pink flower spikes covering the trees and scenting the warm air — but it is also the first to surrender to summer, and by late in the season it will begin dropping its leaves to conserve water. The blue oaks and valley oaks hold their full canopies over the golding grasslands.
The coast and high country grow on. The Pacific madrone and California bay laurel are in fresh growth on the coastal slopes, and the coast redwoods draw on the persistent coastal fog. In the Sierra, spring has finally arrived — the quaking aspens and mountain willows leaf out, the dogwoods bloom white in Yosemite Valley, and the conifers — ponderosa, Jeffrey, sugar pine, white fir, and the great giant sequoias — push their bright new candles of growth as the snow melts back and the high meadows green.
The California native plants guide covers what grows with them
Weather & Daylight
Across California, a typical May day averages a high near 76°F and a low near 49°F, with about 1.0 inches of precipitation — statewide averages from the 1991–2020 U.S. climate normals.
Warm 76-degree days and mild 49-degree nights feel like true spring, rainfall thinning to about an inch as skies clear.
| Average high | 76°F |
|---|---|
| Average low | 49°F |
| Precipitation | 1.0 in |
| Sunrise (mid-month) | 5:53 PT |
| Sunset (mid-month) | 19:58 PT |
Figures are statewide averages over the 1991–2020 U.S. climate normals; local conditions vary with elevation and distance from the coast. Sunrise and sunset are computed for a midstate point on the 15th (PT).
Next month's version of this page, by email
One short note when California's next month turns — what's arriving, blooming, and worth a night outside.
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The complete California birding, native-plant, and night-sky references — or the whole year, week by week, in one book.
Same month elsewhere: May in Colorado · May in Connecticut · May in Delaware