If you're sprucing up outdoor living spaces, May has bargains for you.
As green thumbs dig into the soil in May, look for specials on bedding plants, both in flats and hanging baskets, says Carol Caggiano, spokeswoman for the Society of American Florists. Discounts of 10 percent to 20 percent are available on petunias, geraniums, pansies and "anything that you see for outdoors," she says.
While you won't see the fire-sale prices of the later summer season, buying in May means scoring a smaller discount with healthy flowers that you have time to plant and enjoy, she says.
Looking for a bargain on fresh-cut flowers? Buy locally grown from a florist or farmers market, Caggiano says. With locally grown blooms, "the quality is usually good -- the flowers are usually picked the day before, and there's not a lot of transportation or storage damage," so you get a longer vase life.