Not All Gardens Are Dormant in December

The arrival of the last month of the year does not mean everyone has to throw in the trowel and wait to garden again until the spring. Gardeners in warmer climates can keep their gardens growing all through the winter months. When I lived in Houston, November and December were the start of my favorite period in the garden. Even gardeners in colder climates can keep frost-resistant plants nice and snug if they have some cold weather protection in place. There's also lots of indoor gardening to be done.

I'd love to give you a simple list of everything you can grow in December, but your plant possibilities will vary based on where you live. Scroll down to find out what you can grow in warm, mild, and cold climates over the winter months.

What Can You Grow in December in a Warmer Climate?

December in a warmer climate means your daytime temps are still in the 60s, 70s, and sometimes even 80s. There may be a chance of frost in January, or you may live somewhere with no frost at all.

Leaves

This is your prime salad garden season! Fill your beds with all your favorite lettuce varieties: spring mix, romaine, buttercrunch, you name it. If you want to branch out a bit, try endive and radicchio. These are the greens that fill those $7 plastic boxes at the grocery store—you know, the ones that get shoved to the back of the fridge and then thrown away a week later? You can have fresh greens all season long if you just sow some seeds directly in your garden beds now.

Other frost-tolerant greens you can grow include kale, arugula, spinach, and Swiss chard.

Now is also a great time to grow herbs like cilantro, parsley, and dill, which all love the cool weather. Perennial herbs like rosemary, oregano, sage, and thyme will do great in this weather, as well. Chives will produce throughout your entire winter months and will even help protect all your leafy greens from pests.

These plants can all take a bit of frost, but it's a good idea to cover them with some frost cloth on the nights you're expecting a freeze to keep them productive.

Roots

You can direct sow carrots, radishes, or beets this month to take advantage of your nice, cool weather. Make sure to plant them where they'll receive 6 hours of direct sun during these shorter winter days.

Radishes are the fastest-growing root. You can plant several rounds of radishes in December and January and harvest the most beautiful and best-tasting roots from the garden before it's time for your next warm season.

Now is also a great time to plant garlic, which is technically a bulb. Make sure to select softneck garlic varieties (usually available at your local farmers' market). Plant cloves near your leafy greens to protect them from pests.

Fruit

If you've got sturdy garden trellises, there's one fruiting plant you can grow during your colder months: peas! Plant snow peas or sugar snap peas to cover your trellises in beautiful green vines, and look forward to harvesting your first delicious pods in the New Year! Peas cost a ton of money at the grocery store, and they're not nearly as delicious as they are straight from your garden. Make sure to give your peas at least 6 hours of sunlight a day.

Two plants I lump into the fruit category thanks to their space and time requirements are broccoli and cauliflower. These plants will have more time to grow and thrive in your cool season garden if you buy them as transplants from your local nursery or garden center now.

I'll finish off the list with two surprising plants it's time to grow if you live in a warm climate: tomatoes and peppers. Wait, what? That's right! These plants need to be started by seed indoors in December in order to have seedlings ready to transplant to your garden by February, which is when your temps are likely to start warming up.

You guys are going to have the most packed gardens this winter if you plant everything on this list. Those of us in colder climates will try not to envy you too much!

What Can You Grow in December in a Mild Climate?

There are still lots of things you can grow indoors and out if you live in a mild climate, like I do here in Nashville, Tennessee. A mild climate means you're likely going to have some frost in December, but you don't anticipate a killing frost (when temps dip below 28°F for several days) until January or February.

Leaves

This month is the perfect time to start your perennial herbs and annual herbs indoors so they're ready to go out to the garden in February. Sage and parsley are two herbs in particular that are easy to start indoors but take a long time to grow. Starting these herbs indoors now will give you two full months to grow them before moving them outdoors, and you'll end up with healthier plants than if you bought them from the store. Plus, you're going to save money!

One leafy green that can still be planted out in your garden this month is cabbage. A good rule of thumb with cabbage is the more savoy (bumpy) the leaves are, the more resistant to frost it'll be. Napa cabbage is my absolute favorite green to grow over winter. This stuff is so delicious. I love making salads and stir fries with it.

Roots

This is the best month for those of us in a mild climate to start onions. Onions grow so well from seed, but it takes time. They are a slow to get started, so if you sow your onion seeds indoors in December and grow them under lights, you'll have super healthy onion starts to plant out by the time February rolls around.

There aren't really any fruiting plants you can grow this month, but you'll be amazed at how many delicious things you can harvest from your garden, even when it's freezing outside!

What Can You Grow in December in a Colder Climate?

You know if you live in a colder climate, right? You can't grow anything in December because your ground is already frozen. Maybe you're reading this during a snowstorm. Don't worry—there are still things you can grow this month.

In general, your garden will go dormant during the cold season. For those of you who still have workable soil (meaning you can dig into the top 3 or 4 inches), it's not too late to plant before your cold season really takes its wintry hold. You can also prolong the growing season for frost-resistant plants already growing in your garden by using weather protection like cold frames, polytunnels, and cloches to protect your plants from frost or snow.

Besides growing plants that can endure the low temps, you can also do some indoor gardening.

Leaves

The winter is your sprout and microgreens season. You could grow alfalfa sprouts, radish sprouts, or my favorite, broccoli sprouts. Let me tell you, if you want to stay healthy this winter, you've got to grow your own nutritious broccoli sprouts. Just one itty bitty sprout has the same nutrients you'd find in an entire broccoli head. And you can grow them in a jar or sprouter right on your kitchen counter. All you have to do is rinse them each day for 5 to 7 days.

You can also, of course, grow microgreens, which are basically one step up from sprouts as far as supplies and time needed to grow them. My two favorite microgreens to grow in the wintertime are cilantro and basil. Even when it's snowing outside, tossing some basil microgreens on my pasta makes me feel like I'm basking under the Tuscan sun.

If you have some grow lights or a sunny windowsill, you can also grow spinach and lettuce plants indoors. I started doing this my second winter in Chicago, just to have some more green in my kitchen. It helped me survive winter.

Lastly, if you have frost cloth or cold frames to protect them, you could winter sow cabbage, broccoli, spinach, Swiss chard, and arugula outside. The winter is a great time to have these seeds planted in the garden. They won't die in the cold... and they also won't grow a lot. But the minute the temps rise in the spring, they'll pop up and grow faster than plants sown in the spring.

Roots

Like with frost-hardy greens, you can sow seeds for carrots and beets before winter really sets in as long as you have a plan to cover them.

You can also plant garlic if the top couple inches of soil in your raised beds is still workable. Bulbs won't grow over winter, but their roots will establish themselves in the garden—they're getting nice and snug underground. As soon as the temperatures slightly warm, you'll see little green shoots popping up in your garden. Look for hard-neck garlic varieties, which typically do best in colder areas.

What Are the Best Flowers to Plant in December?

You can buy frost-tolerant pansies, coneflowers, pink dianthus, or violas from the nursery and use them to add some bright color to your raised beds if you're in your cool season.

If you're in a warm climate, now is the perfect time to direct sow some nasturtiums. These flowers thrive when it's not too hot and not too cold. They also offer great pest protection to your leafy greens.

Those of you in mild or cold climates could start seeds for calendula indoors. Calendula is one of my favorite flowers to grow in the early spring. It can tolerate frost and is a fantastic trap crop.

Keep Growing in December

December can be the time when you let your garden go dormant and focus on the holiday season, or it could be the time to stretch what you think is possible in the garden. If it works, you've gained some delicious harvests; if it doesn't work, you've wasted some seeds and gained more knowledge about growing in your climate.

So, put on your coat, grab some winter boots if you have to, step outside, and dig in—one last time this year.

Thanks for being here and making the garden ordinary again!