It's time to bring your indoor plants outside

Spring annuals are doing well in containers now. If you planted pansies, kale and sweet alyssum early, they should be putting on a good show.

I plant a lot of lettuce in pots because it's useful and pretty. Most cool season annuals fade when it gets hot. They'll need to be replaced at some point, although sweet alyssum is heat tolerant.

As you buy new plants, make sure to expose them to the sun gradually. I'm still avoiding leaving heat lovers such as tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, zinnias, coleus, salvias and marigolds outside at night. It's still a bit cool to plant them.

If you saved plants last fall, or took cuttings, you can continue to bring them outside. They also need to be exposed gradually to full sun.

Some tropical plants can be set inside larger pots — while still in their original pot — so you won't need to dig and repot them in the fall. I do this with smooth yuccas and hibiscus. Then I plant geraniums, begonias or petunias around them.

Spanish bluebells are looking lovely in the shade garden. They're much tougher than English bluebells and thrive in Colorado. These bulbs are planted in fall, so make a note in your gardening journal to order some in late summer.