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Monthly planting guide

What to plant in December

Computed from this directory's own crop-rules table and each zone band's real median frost dates or monthly temperatures, for the 15th of December. A single national list would be wrong for most readers: December means a different planting stage in a cold-winter zone than it does in a hot, frost-rare one. Every crop name below links to that crop's own sourced guide.

Planting windows and crop timing here are computed from USDA/NOAA climate data and the university extension sources cited below, not a site visit or soil test. Treat this as a starting point: local conditions vary, and a local nursery or extension office can advise on your exact site. See our full Disclaimer.

Zones 1-5 (cold winters)

Fort Plain, NY · Zone 5b

Nothing in our crop table has an open window here in December.

Zones 6-7 (temperate)

McMinnville, TN · Zone 7b

Start indoors

Artichoke

Zones 8-9 (warm)

Apopka, FL · Zone 9b

Nothing in our crop table has an open window here in December.

Zones 10-13 (hot, frost rare or absent)

Loxahatchee, FL · Zone 10b

Frost is rare or absent here; timing follows temperature, not frost dates.

Cool-season crops

Apple (bare-root fruit tree) , Apricot (bare-root fruit tree) , Asparagus , Bachelor's Button (Cornflower) , Bare-root rose , Beets , Blackberry , Blueberry , Bok Choy , Broccoli , Brussels Sprouts , Cabbage , Calendula , Carrots , Catnip/Catmint , Cauliflower , Celery , Cherry (sweet/tart, bare-root fruit tree) , Chives , Cilantro , Collards , Currant , Deciduous shade tree (generic, e.g. maple/oak, bare-root or B&B) , Dill , Elderberry , Evergreen shrub (B&B/potted, e.g. arborvitae, boxwood) , Fennel (Bulb/Florence) , Flowering deciduous shrub (generic, e.g. lilac/forsythia) , Garden Peas , Garlic , Gooseberry , Kale , Kohlrabi , Larkspur , Lavender , Leek , Lettuce , Mint , Mustard Greens , Nasturtium , Onion (bulb) , Oregano , Parsley , Parsnip , Peach (bare-root fruit tree) , Pear (bare-root fruit tree) , Petunia , Plum (bare-root fruit tree) , Potato , Radish , Raspberry , Rhubarb , Rutabaga , Sage , Snapdragon , Snow Peas , Spinach , Strawberry , Sweet Alyssum , Sweet Pea , Swiss Chard , Table/Bunch Grape , Tarragon , Thyme , Turnip

Warm-season crops

Artichoke , Arugula , Basil , Bell Pepper , Cantaloupe / Muskmelon , Cleome (Spider Flower) , Cosmos , Cucumber , Eggplant , Fig , Four O'Clock , Lemongrass , Lima Beans , Marigold , Marjoram , Morning Glory , Okra , Pole Beans , Pumpkin , Rosemary , Snap Beans (Bush) , Summer Squash , Sunflower , Sweet Corn , Sweet Potato , Tomato , Watermelon , Winter Squash (Butternut) , Zinnia , Zucchini

December closes the year with the cold and temperate bands fully dormant and the warm band just past its own fall-planting window.

Deep in the cold band's own dormant season, months from a May last frost. Nothing on the crop table has an open window here.

Seed-starting indoors reopens in the temperate band this month for next year's earliest transplants, the first sign of the coming season rather than an active window this month.

Past the warm band's own four-to-eight-week fall-planting window, which closed around the start of December against this band's own first frost of December 29; the list above goes quiet again.

December's own average in the hot band is about 67.5°F (NOAA 1991-2020 Climate Normals), inside the cool-season range, so that list stays open alongside the warm-season list that runs year-round in this band's own data.

Enter your ZIP for your own exact dates rather than these four representative bands.

Nurseries near these locations

Sources

Full per-crop citations are on each crop's own guide page, linked above. Institutions cited across this page: