Every year the weather picks winners and losers in the garden. It's not unusual for this to happen several times throughout the growing season.

As we approach the end of spring and the official start of summer it might be wise to summarize the growing season to date.

May has been cool. May was wet. That makes excellent conditions for transplanting perennials, shrubs and trees. With the current levels of soil moisture there are no concerns about continuing to add plants to your garden. Most annuals also are happy, but that subset of annuals that like high soil and air temperatures can be struggling.

Many in that subset live in the vegetable garden. Tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cucumbers and melons are off to a rather slow start and seem to be showing more symptoms of fungus problems.

For once, the procrastinators can smile a little. They can be the tortoises that catch the April hares. More likely, they will just get a lot closer than they usually do.

On the plus side, the rains and the cool temperatures have hindered the rise of insect populations. There is no question that a good rain is a great insecticide. One reminder, if you see bagworms on your evergreens, action should be taken sometime after mid June.

The bagworm moths emerge and lay their eggs late in the spring. Sometime between mid June and July 1, the eggs hatch. The young larvae are your best and perhaps only target if you wish to control this pest.

Summer application of horticultural oil works well by smothering the young worms. There are several other spray options. Contacting the Lancaster County Gardener's Hotline weekday mornings at 394-6851 would get you the best information if you were plagued with bagworms.

The frequent rains may be making it difficult to keep container plantings dry enough. I have seen evidence of some shrub wilts caused by root fungus spawned by too much moisture.

I have seen several problems in the rhododendron family. Leaf drop, yellowing and curling seem to predominate. They will not tolerate wet feet. This year there are more sites with wet feet than normal.

I often rail against too much watering in the garden. If you have had the water hose out for anything but transplanting and your containers, you need to put it away for the good of your plants. Another major plus is that the blooms this spring has been excellent in quality and staying power.

My assessment to date is that the spring planting season has been better than average from a temperature perspective. The rains will permit any who wish to extend the planting season.

Warmer temperatures are bound to come and the heat lovers will improve. If you are unhappy with any of those warm vegetables you planted earlier, you still have several weeks to add additional plants to ensure or extend the vegetable garden season.

Additions to you landscape match the rainfall patterns or depend on you for OCCASIONAL watering if we shift to drier conditions.