What to plant in December
December means something very different in Minnesota and in Texas. Below is what the month looks like in each USDA zone, then a dated list for each state.
December by USDA zone
Counted from each zone’s typical frost dates. Your own frost dates matter more than your zone number - the state pages below use state averages.
| Zone | Frost dates | Crops to sow or plant | Including |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zone 1 | Jun 15 – Aug 20 | 0 | planning and seed ordering |
| Zone 2 | Jun 1 – Sep 1 | 0 | planning and seed ordering |
| Zone 3 | May 15 – Sep 15 | 0 | planning and seed ordering |
| Zone 4 | May 10 – Sep 25 | 0 | planning and seed ordering |
| Zone 5 | Apr 30 – Oct 5 | 0 | planning and seed ordering |
| Zone 6 | Apr 15 – Oct 15 | 0 | planning and seed ordering |
| Zone 7 | Apr 5 – Oct 25 | 0 | planning and seed ordering |
| Zone 8 (December dates) | Mar 20 – Nov 5 | 2 | garlic, celeriac |
| Zone 9 (December dates) | Feb 20 – Nov 30 | 25 | shallot, garlic, celeriac, celery, leek |
| Zone 10 (December dates) | Jan 30 – Dec 15 | 54 | mache (corn salad), pea, spinach, green onion / scallion, arugula |
December planting lists by state (28)
Alabama2 crops to sow or plantArizona7 crops to sow or plantCalifornia25 crops to sow or plantColorado0 crops to sow or plantFlorida30 crops to sow or plantGeorgia2 crops to sow or plantIllinois0 crops to sow or plantIndiana0 crops to sow or plantKentucky0 crops to sow or plantLouisiana9 crops to sow or plantMaryland0 crops to sow or plantMassachusetts0 crops to sow or plantMichigan0 crops to sow or plantMinnesota0 crops to sow or plantMississippi2 crops to sow or plantMissouri0 crops to sow or plantNew Jersey0 crops to sow or plantNew York0 crops to sow or plantNorth Carolina0 crops to sow or plantOhio0 crops to sow or plantOregon0 crops to sow or plantPennsylvania0 crops to sow or plantSouth Carolina2 crops to sow or plantTennessee0 crops to sow or plantTexas7 crops to sow or plantVirginia0 crops to sow or plantWashington0 crops to sow or plantWisconsin0 crops to sow or plant
More states are added regularly. In the meantime every state has a full-year planting calendar, and you can get dates for your own ZIP code there.