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What can I plant in December?

It's not too late to add to veggie or flower garden

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED DEC 2, 2020

Ornamental kale is a good choice for planting now. (Photos: Debbie Arrington)

Is it too late to plant a garden in Sacramento? It depends on what you’re planting.

Like much of California, we can garden right through the winter. Although it may get frosty (and sometimes downright freezing), the ground never turns to ice.

“A lot of people have been asking me lately if it’s too late to plant veggies and flowers outdoors,” wrote Angela Pratt, owner of The Plant Foundry, in her website’s blog. “And while it isn’t peak planting time any more, we do still have some winter color, winter herbs and winter veggies, and you can still totally plant as long as the ground isn’t frozen.

“When we buy plants this time of year, we look for cool-season veggies and herbs that can still be planted through December, and many other landscape plants can be planted as well, as long as the soil is workable (i.e. not frozen, and not saturated),” she added.

December is the last transplanting chance for many cool-season bedding plants and vegetables. On the flower side, that assortment includes pansies, snapdragons, stocks, Icelandic poppies, calendulas and other favorites.

Lacinato kale seedlings can be planted now.

As for vegetables, Sacramento County master gardeners say you can still transplant seedlings for bok choy, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, chard, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, mustard and spinach. From seed, plant fava beans, chard, leaf lettuce, mustard, radishes and spinach. Garlic and onions can be planted now, too.

It’s still not too late to plant spring-flowering bulbs such as tulips, daffodils and hyacinths.

Many herbs can be transplanted now including most of the mint family (such as catmint and oregano), cilantro, rosemary, fennel and scented geraniums.

In addition to all those suggestions, early December is still a good time to divide and transplant perennials such as daylilies and Shasta daisies. If you need to transplant a shrub or tree, do it now, too.

Bare-root season is just beginning. Expect to see strawberries, blueberries, asparagus, rhubarb and lots of fruit trees in local nurseries soon.

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Keywords:

UCCE master gardeners cool-season annuals December seeds Sacramento winter bloomers frost onions Plant Foundry gardening garlic cool-weather vegetables bulbs transplants

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Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 3

November still offers good weather for fall planting:

* If you haven't already, it's time to clean up the remains of summer. Pull faded annuals and vegetables. Prune dead or broken branches from trees.

* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and winter rains.

* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.

* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.

* Plant garlic and onions.

* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.

* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.

* Rake and compost leaves, but dispose of any diseased plant material. For example, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.

* Save dry stalks and seedpods from poppies and coneflowers for fall bouquets and holiday decorating.

* For holiday blooms indoors, plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs now. Fill a shallow bowl or dish with 2 inches of rocks or pebbles. Place bulbs in the dish with the root end nestled in the rocks. Add water until it just touches the bottom of the bulbs. Place the dish in a sunny window. Add water as needed.

* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.

* For larger blooms, pinch off some camellia buds.

* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.

* To help prevent leaf curl, apply a copper fungicide spray to peach and nectarine trees after they lose their leaves this month. Leaf curl, which shows up in the spring, is caused by a fungus that winters as spores on the limbs and around the tree in fallen leaves. Sprays are most effective now.

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