What to Plant in December in Zone 6
Here is what you can sow in December if you garden in USDA zone 6. Dates use typical zone 6 frosts, so your own microclimate may shift them by a week or two.
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Quiet monthThere is not much to direct sow outdoors in December for zone 6. Use the planner to map the whole year so you never miss a window.
Zone 6 in December
December in Zone 6: Betting on an Early Spring Without Planting for One
Order seed with the whole 178-day season in mind
Zone 6 runs a frost-free season of roughly 178 days, longer than many gardeners give it credit for, and December's seed order is the time to plan around that full length rather than the shorter window a colder zone needs to fit crops into. That extra length covers dry beans and grain corn without much trouble, so use December to check whether either variety's days-to-maturity actually fits the calendar rather than discovering it does not in June. Pigeon pea is a separate case, and calling it realistic here oversells what season length alone can do: the crop also needs shortening daylight to trigger flowering, so only a variety specifically bred as photoperiod-insensitive and extra-early has a real shot at podding before an October 15 frost. Read the variety description closely before ordering, since a standard tropical pigeon pea line will grow leaves all summer and never flower in time.
Resist planning around an early spring that has not happened yet
Zone 6's mild spells make it tempting to plan a February or March schedule as if the warm stretch will hold, but building a planting calendar around an early last frost is a bet against the same whiplash that catches gardeners every few years. Plan bed prep and seed-starting dates off the average April 20 last frost, not off memory of last year's unusually early one, and treat any warm run before then as a bonus rather than a new baseline.
Review the year while the details are still sharp
December is the natural month to write down which varieties handled the season's heat and which fall gamble crops made it through winter, since Zone 6's fava beans do not survive every year and the details of what worked fade fast by the time spring planting returns. A simple log, even a few lines per bed, saves the guesswork that otherwise repeats every few seasons.
December in zone 6: common questions
What can I plant in December in zone 6?+
December is a quiet outdoor-sowing month for zone 6. Start warm-season seeds indoors, or plan the next window. Your exact dates depend on your ZIP code's frost, not just the zone.
What USDA hardiness zone am I in?+
Zone 6 is one band of the map, but planting time is set by your local frost dates, not the zone number. Enter your ZIP code in the free planner and it uses your actual frost dates, which can differ by weeks within a single zone.
Are these December planting dates exact?+
They are typical zone 6 windows. Two gardens in the same zone can be a week or two apart because of elevation and local climate, so treat these as a starting point and tune them to your ZIP code with the free planner.