December Planting Guide

Although your thoughts are probably on the holidays this month, there are a number of plants that can be added to your landscape, many of which will add a festive flair. If it rains, allow the ground to dry out for a few days before planting. The soil should be moist but never soggy.

Flowers

  • Alyssum
  • Bachelor’s button
  • Begonia
  • Bromeliad
  • Calendula
  • California poppy
  • Candytuft
  • Carnation
  • Christmas cactus
  • Chrysanthemum
  • Cyclamen
  • Delphinium
  • English primrose
  • Foxglove
  • Fuchsia
  • Geranium
  • Iceland poppy
  • Impatiens
  • Flowering kale
  • Kalanchoe
  • Larkspur
  • Lupine
  • Nasturtium
  • Nemesia
  • Pansy
  • Poinsettia
  • Salvia
  • Schizanthus
  • Snapdragon
  • Society garlic
  • Stock
  • Sweet pea
  • Sweet violet
  • Viola
  • Wildflowers

Vegetables & Herbs

  • Artichoke
  • Arugula
  • Asparagus
  • Beet
  • Broccoli
  • Brussels sprouts
  • Cabbage
  • Carrot
  • Cauliflower
  • Celery
  • Cilantro
  • Collards
  • Cress
  • Dill
  • Endive
  • Garlic
  • Horseradish
  • Kale
  • Kohlrabi
  • Leek
  • Lettuce
  • Mint
  • Mustard greens
  • Onion
  • Parsley
  • Parsnip
  • Pea
  • Potato
  • Radish
  • Rhubarb
  • Rutabaga
  • Salsify
  • Spinach
  • Strawberry
  • Swiss chard
  • Turnip

Trees and Shrubs

  • Australian fuchsia
  • Australian tea tree
  • Azalea
  • Blue hibiscus
  • Camellia (Sasanqua variety)
  • Cape mallow
  • Flowering maple
  • Holly
  • Westringia

Bulbs and Tubers

  • Allium
  • Anemone
  • Amaryllis
  • Calla lily
  • Crocus (prechilled for eight weeks)
  • Daffodil
  • Dutch iris
  • Freesia
  • Gladiolus
  • Grape hyacinth
  • Hyacinth (prechilled for eight weeks)
  • Lily
  • Muscari
  • Narcissus
  • Ranunculus
  • Tulip (prechilled for eight weeks)

Julie Bawden-Davis

Julie Bawden-Davis is a bestselling journalist, novelist, blogger, and YouTuber. A prolific author, Julie writes in several genres. She enjoys creating page-turning suspense served up with a dose of romance, garden books that turn any brown thumb green, and spiritual books meant to enlighten and inspire. Widely published, Julie has written 45 books and more than 4,000 articles for a wide variety of national and international publications. She lives in Southern California, where she enjoys sunny, blue skies most days and year-round gardening. Julie gains inspiration from being surrounded by plants when she writes.