What to Plant in December in Zone 8: Peas, Bulbs, Trees and Winter Greens

Here is what to plant in December in zone 8. You can still sow garden peas early in the month, plant the last spring bulbs, set out pansies and violas, and plant trees and shrubs while the soil is moist and roots can grow. Vegetable planting is otherwise on pause until January, when garlic and onion transplants go in across North Central Texas. December's main work is harvesting greens, protecting them on freezing nights and preparing beds for the new year.

Use this page with the zone 8 planting calendar. Zone 8 stretches from the Southeast coast through Texas to the Pacific Northwest, so each tip below names its source region. Dates vary with your microclimate, so check them against your county extension office.

Why now: December is the quietest month in a zone 8 garden, which makes it the best time to fix soil, order seed and onion plants, and plant trees before spring growth starts.

At a glance: zone 8 in December

• Frost: first frost is behind most of zone 8. North Central Texas averages a first frost on November 17 and a last frost on March 18 (Rockwall County Master Gardener guide, Texas A&M AgriLife).
• Plant now: garden peas (early December), late spring bulbs, pansies and violas, trees and shrubs.
• Prepare for January: onion transplants and garlic in North Central Texas from January 1.
• Harvest: collards, kale, mustard, cabbage, spinach and lettuce mixes.
• Protect: row cover for spinach, broccoli and lettuce on hard-freeze nights.
• Key jobs: cut back irrigation, mulch beds to 3 inches, water evergreens in dry spells, check stored produce, wait to prune cold damage.

Sow indoors

No vegetable needs an indoor start in a zone 8 December. Indoor projects this month are about color and planning:

• Force bulbs. Clemson HGIC notes that paperwhites and amaryllis can be forced indoors without pre-chilling, so you can pot them now for blooms in a few weeks.
• Care for holiday plants. Keep poinsettias, Christmas cactus, cyclamen and amaryllis in a bright window out of direct sun. Take them out of decorative pots and saucers to water, and let them drain before putting them back (Clemson). Oregon State adds that poinsettias need protection from cold drafts and heat vents.
• Order onion plants. AgriLife's onion guide recommends Candy, 1015Y and Legend (yellow), Texas Early (white) and Candy Apple (red) for Texas gardens.

Sow or plant outdoors

Garden peas, early in the month

Clemson HGIC says garden peas can still be planted in early December in South Carolina. Its coastal planting chart runs peas to November 30, so treat the first week of December as the very end of the window, and plant only if your soil is not waterlogged.

Onions from seed in Texas

AgriLife's onion guide says onions seeded from October to December, or transplanted from January to February, should produce bulbs between May and July. If you sow seed now, plant it about ¼ inch (6 mm) deep and 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart. Transplants and sets go in from January.

Dates from the Rockwall County Master Gardener guide based on Texas A&M AgriLife data. Use December to clear, weed and enrich the beds these crops will go into.

Bulbs and winter annuals

Clemson HGIC says late December can be a good time to plant many spring-flowering bulbs. Pansies and violas are hardy winter annuals. Clemson pairs them with ornamental cabbage or kale and says winter annuals may need a light feed with a complete fertilizer such as 10-10-10 (equal parts nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium).

Trees and shrubs

Clemson HGIC says planting can continue through fall and winter so roots establish before spring, and Oregon State calls December a good time to plant trees and landscape shrubs in western Oregon. South Carolina celebrates Arbor Day on the first Friday of December, which is December 4 in 2026. For winter interest, Clemson suggests sasanquas, paperbush, tea olive and native grasses such as muhly and switchgrass.

Harvest

Clemson's December calendars say to keep harvesting cool-season vegetables such as collards, kale and mustard greens, and note that the cole crop harvest is just getting going.

• Collards, kale, mustard and cabbage: keep picking outer leaves.
• Spinach and lettuce mixes: cut regularly, and cover before a hard freeze.
• Broccoli: harvest heads before nights below about 21°F (-6°C).
• Turnips and radishes from fall sowings.

Floating row cover adds about 4 to 8°F (2 to 4°C). Put it on in the afternoon to hold ground heat. Sheets or blankets work in a pinch, but Clemson warns against plastic, which can damage leaves and overheat plants.

Garden jobs

• Cut back irrigation. Plants need less water as growth slows. Clemson suggests checking irrigation controllers, GFCI outlets and rain sensors, and switching controllers off for winter if you like.
• Water in dry spells. If there has been no rain for a few weeks, water evergreens deeply over the whole root ball so they do not dry out over winter. Clemson gives warm-season lawns about 1 inch (2.5 cm) of water a week in warm, dry weather.
• Mulch beds to 3 inches (8 cm) and scout for small winter weeds, which are easiest to control now (Clemson). Pine straw is a light, easy mulch to work with.
• Do not prune cold damage yet. Plants hit by a freeze may look dead. Clemson advises waiting until the damage can be fully assessed.
• Stay off frosted lawns until the frost melts (OSU).
• Brace columnar evergreens by tying their limbs so snow or ice does not snap them (OSU).
• Use wood ash carefully. OSU allows no more than 1.5 pounds per 100 square feet (about 0.7 kg per 9 m²) a year on vegetable beds, and none if your soil pH is above 7.0.
• Check for rodents. Look for gnawing at the base of trees and shrubs, clear weeds nearby and do not mound mulch against trunks (OSU).
• Check stored produce and bulbs for rot, and turn the compost pile, covering it in heavy rain (OSU).
• Keep a cut Christmas tree fresh with at least a quart (about 1 liter) of water a day (Clemson).

For tool, hose and bed care before the coldest weeks, use our winter garden checklist. If you missed last month's jobs, the zone 8 November calendar lists the planting windows that just closed.

Project of the month: watch your winter birds

Seedheads left standing and a filled feeder bring birds into a zone 8 garden all winter, and December is a good month to start paying attention. The Audubon Christmas Bird Count runs each year from December 14 to January 5, and volunteers can take part by watching a backyard feeder through their local count circle. A feeder camera makes that easier: it records visitors while you are indoors, so you can check the footage and confirm species later. Our bird feeder cameras guide is the place to start.