May is the crescendo of the Vermont spring — the warbler migration crests, the woods fill with trillium and trout lily, and the gardens finally release from frost late in the month. It is the most concentrated, exhilarating stretch of the natural year in the Green Mountains.
Week by week in May
April 30 – May 6
- The warbler migration builds — yellow, magnolia, and black-throated green warblers pour through, with orioles and tanagers close behind.
- Marsh marigold glows gold in wet woods and the hardwood floors carpet with trillium, wild columbine, and bellwort.
- Keep sowing and harvesting cool-season crops, and harden off warm-season seedlings — but hold tomatoes; the last frost is weeks off.
May 7–13
- Warbler migration crests in the leafing woods, while bobolinks and meadowlarks return to claim the hayfields with their songs.
- Lilacs and apple blossom reach their fragrant peak in the valleys as the spring-ephemeral show in the woods passes its height.
- The first eastern tiger swallowtails sail along river valleys and gardens, and the earliest northbound monarchs reach the state.
May 14–20
- On Mount Mansfield and Camel's Hump, the rare Bicknell's thrush returns to sing from the stunted alpine spruce-fir at dusk.
- Asparagus is the star of the reopening outdoor markets — tender local spears at their sweet best for just a few weeks.
- In the warm valleys the last frost passes near now — start setting out tomatoes, peppers, and squash, keeping row cover ready for cold snaps.
May 21–27
- The dawn chorus is at its fullest — rose-breasted grosbeaks, scarlet tanagers, and a flood of vireos and flycatchers sing in the green woods.
- Full leaf-out closes the canopy in the valleys, ending the brief sunlit window the spring ephemerals depended on.
- The state flower, red clover, begins blooming in the hayfields and roadsides as the wildflower show shifts to open country.
May 28 – June 3
- With frost finally past even in cooler zones, finish setting out warm-season transplants and direct-sow beans, corn, and cucumbers.
- Common loons settle onto nests on the lakes, and the woods ring with ovenbirds, wood thrushes, and veeries on territory.
- Black swallowtails lay eggs on garden dill and parsley, and the northern Atlantis fritillary begins emerging in mountain meadows.
Birds This Month
May is the single best birding month in Vermont, headlined by the warbler migration. Wave after wave of brilliant songbirds pour north — yellow, magnolia, chestnut-sided, blackburnian, black-throated green, black-throated blue, Canada, and American redstart among dozens — peaking in the second and third weeks. With them come rose-breasted grosbeaks, Baltimore orioles, scarlet tanagers, indigo buntings, ruby-throated hummingbirds, and a flood of flycatchers, vireos, and thrushes, including the returning hermit thrush singing from the hillsides.
The hayfields fill with bobolinks and eastern meadowlarks on territory, common loons nest on the lakes, and on the highest peaks — Mount Mansfield and Camel's Hump — the rare, range-restricted Bicknell's thrush returns to the stunted spruce-fir of the alpine zone, one of the most sought-after birds in the East. Dead Creek and the Champlain marshes host terns, bitterns, and rails.
This month's tip: hang oriole and hummingbird feeders by the first week, and bird at dawn — the chorus is at its absolute fullest, and the leaves are still open enough to see the migrants.
What's Blooming
May is the climax of the spring-ephemeral display and the start of the broader wildflower season. The rich hardwood forests carpet with red trillium and the white painted trillium of the higher woods, alongside trout lily, Dutchman's breeches, wild ginger, spring beauty, hepatica, bloodroot, wild columbine, and large-flowered bellwort. Marsh marigold glows in wet woods statewide.
As the canopy closes, the show shifts to edges and meadows: wild geranium, jack-in-the-pulpit, foamflower, and the first lupine on sandy soils. The state flower, red clover, begins blooming in the hayfields and roadsides late in the month. In gardens, tulips, daffodils, lilacs, and apple blossom reach their peak — lilac is a beloved May marker across Vermont. The forest ephemerals fade fast once the trees leaf out, so the first half of May is the time to walk the woods, with the bloom running later as you climb into the mountains and the Kingdom.
Garden This Month
May is the big planting month, but it hinges on the last-frost date — and in Vermont that's not until late May for most of the state, early June in the cold north. Early in the month, keep sowing and harvesting cool-season crops: peas, lettuce, spinach, radishes, carrots, beets, potatoes, and onions all thrive in the cool soil. Harden off warm-season seedlings over a week of increasing outdoor exposure so they don't shock at transplant.
Once the frost date passes (around late May in the valleys, later up high), set out tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, squash, cucumbers, and basil, and direct-sow beans, corn, and melons into warm soil. Keep row cover ready — a late frost can still strike, especially in low spots and the mountains. In the flower garden, plant annuals after frost, divide and move perennials, and mulch beds to hold the moisture summer will demand. Black flies arrive too; that's just May in Vermont.
Zone 3b (Northeast Kingdom & high country): the last frost can come as late as early June here, so keep warm-season crops protected. Direct-sow hardy greens, peas, and roots now, and wait until very late May or June to set out tomatoes, peppers, and squash, under cover.
Zone 4b (central Vermont & valleys): the last frost is typically late May. Keep cool-season crops growing and harden off warm-season transplants, setting out tomatoes, peppers, and squash only after the frost date passes near month's end — watch the forecast and cover for late cold snaps.
Zone 5a (lower Champlain Valley): Vermont's warmest zone reaches its last frost around mid-to-late May. After roughly May 20–25, set out tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and cucurbits, direct-sow beans and corn, and plant warm-season flowers — staying ready for any late frost.
What's at the Farmers Market
May is when Vermont's outdoor farmers markets reopen in force and the first true spring harvest arrives. Asparagus is the star — local spears at their tender, sweet best for just a few weeks — alongside rhubarb, spring greens, spinach, lettuce, arugula, radishes, green onions, and the wild foods of the Vermont spring: fiddleheads (ostrich-fern crosiers) and ramps (wild leeks). The very last of the maple run and cold-storage apples are still around early in the month.
This is the biggest plant-sale season of the year: markets and nurseries overflow with vegetable seedlings, herbs, annual flowers, hanging baskets, and native perennials for gardeners racing to plant after the frost date. Choose asparagus with tight, firm tips and snappy stalks and stand it upright in a little water in the fridge; pick the freshest greens and fiddleheads and use them within a few days, always cooked thoroughly — boil 15 minutes or steam 10–12; never raw. Cheese, eggs, and the first spring lamb round out the lively early-season tables.
Night Sky This Month
May's mild nights make for relaxed stargazing, though the nights are shortening fast toward the solstice. The spring sky is at its best: the Big Dipper rides high overhead, bright orange Arcturus in Boötes commands the eastern sky, and blue-white Spica in Virgo and the keystone of Hercules climb behind it. Late in the night, Vega, the first star of the Summer Triangle, clears the eastern horizon.
The Eta Aquariid meteor shower — debris from Halley's Comet — peaks in early May, though its low radiant makes it a modest show from Vermont's latitude, best in the pre-dawn hours. Late-spring nights remain good for the northern lights when geomagnetic activity spikes, especially from the dark north country and high ridges. The waxing spring Milky Way begins to appear low in the late-night east.
For this year's exact meteor-peak dates, planet positions, and aurora outlook, consult the printable Vermont night-sky guide for your part of the state.
Butterflies & Pollinators
May is when Vermont's butterfly season fully opens. The big arrival is the monarch — the first northward generation reaches the state through late May, the females laying eggs on the emerging milkweed that will produce the summer's home-grown broods. They join a building cast: the year's first eastern tiger swallowtails, big and yellow, patrol forest edges, river valleys, and gardens; red admirals and painted ladies arrive as migrants, sometimes in numbers; and small spring azures, cabbage whites, clouded sulphurs, and the first silvery blues are common in open ground.
The overwintered mourning cloaks and commas are still around, looking worn after the long winter. Watch lilacs, dandelions, dame's rocket, and apple blossom for nectaring butterflies on warm, sunny afternoons. To support them, get native milkweed and a succession of nectar plants established now — the monarchs laying eggs this month launch the generations that will eventually make the great fall migration south.
What to plant for them is in the Vermont native plants guide
Trees This Month
May is full leaf-out across most of Vermont, the woods transforming from bare gray to deep green within a few weeks (later in the mountains and Kingdom). The flowering trees take center stage: serviceberry (shadbush), wild cherry, hawthorn, and orchard apple and crabapple burst into white and pink along edges and hillsides, and the fragrant clusters of black cherry follow.
The conifers push new growth — white and red pine send up pale 'candles,' and balsam fir and spruce brighten with soft new needle tips. Sugar maple, beech, yellow birch, ash, and the oaks are the last to unfurl, finally leafing out as the frost danger fades, with maple's yellow-green flowers hanging before the leaves. By late May the canopy has closed over the forest floor, ending the brief sunlit window the spring ephemerals depended on, and the green wave finishes its climb into the high country.
Weather & Daylight
Across Vermont, a typical May day averages a high near 65°F and a low near 41°F, with about 4.0 inches of precipitation — statewide averages from the 1991–2020 U.S. climate normals.
Comfortably mild and often damp, afternoons near 65F pair with heavier rains that green up lawns and gardens fast.
| Average high | 65°F |
|---|---|
| Average low | 41°F |
| Precipitation | 4.0 in |
| Sunrise (mid-month) | 5:25 ET |
| Sunset (mid-month) | 20:09 ET |
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 (ET).
Next month's version of this page, by email
One short note when Vermont's next month turns — what's arriving, blooming, and worth a night outside.
Go deeper with the Vermont guides
The complete Vermont birding, native-plant, and night-sky references — or the whole year, week by week, in one book.
Same month elsewhere: May in Virginia · May in Washington · May in West Virginia