Zone 9 - What to Plant in December

Zone 9 - What to Plant in December

Now is when the main planting is happening in zone 9. The hot and humid days of summer are behind us and we can start growing the garden. With a last frost date in early February you should start growing your tomatoes, peppers and other plants indoors so they are ready to transplant in February.

The Chantenay Red Core is a shorter, stump-shaped carrot that is broad at the top, but tapers into a stump root. It is a great choice to grow in average garden soil. This carrot variety stores well and can be used in all stages. Heavy yielding. Selected for its bright orange color and fine flavor.

The Colorful Mix is a fun blend of different colorful cauliflower varieties. Have fun with this colorful mix of cauliflower varieties. This is a great mix to plant and sale at farmers markets. People will marvel at the bright colors! The varieties include Cheddar, Graffiti, and Snowball.

Nothing says "spring" like the crisp taste of a homegrown Easter Egg Radish! This variety is a bright color blend of red, white, rose pink, purple, and bi-color (red top, white bottom) that is perfect for salads and relish trays. At the harvest time, you can have your own "Easter Egg hunt" for the most colorful radish! After the harvest, you can eat them fresh in salads or slice and add them to sandwiches for a bit of crunch and color.

The Ashe County Pimento is a super sweet, bright red pepper that is perfect for fresh eating, baking, roasting, canning and pickling! This multi-use pepper is from the North Carolina Smoky Mountains. The Ashe County Pimento is a stocky high yielding, early producer that supports heavy sets of 4 inch peppers. This pimento pepper will add a sweet kick to any dish!

The Rudolph Radish is known for being a "cute" smaller variety that has a very deep red hue and a nice uniform globe shape. It is only 1.5 inches round! Rudolph might be tiny, but it is bursting with lots of flavor! These crisp, sweet radishes will give any salad or dish an extra kick.

An early maturing heirloom cabbage. Early Jersey Wakefield is an early variety of cabbage with pointed heads that resist splitting! A great home garden cabbage with great flavor!

The Chocolate Pear is a super productive variety that produces little chocolate-brown colored pear tomatoes that are the perfect size for snacking! This pear shaped variety has a rich tomato flavor that is excellent for adding to salads, pastas or even just to eat by the handful! The Chocolate Pear is a nice tomato for market growing and is perfect to mix with other colored tomatoes.

'White Solemacher' (Also known as Weiss Solemacher) is a white fruiting alpine strawberry cultivar that has been around for many years. It was discovered in Germany. The fruit is among the largest white fruit produced by alpines. It is a clumping type (few to no runners) and is day neutral which means it is not dependent on day length for flowering. The white fruit has the distinctive wild strawberry flavor and aroma expected from fraises des bois. The fruit has a hint of pineapple flavor typical of white alpine fruit. We like it that birds don't seem to know the fruit is ripe and so it Fools the Birds and a part of the collection by that name.

The Halloween Mix contains a "spooky" mix of purple, yellow, black and white radishes. These radishes are mildly spicy and only 5 centimeters in diameter. Everyday can be a scary fun holiday if you succession plant this mixture every two weeks throughout the spring and fall! This radish mix will bring lots of colors to your dishes.

Improved Rugen is a delicious alpine strawberry. Produces strong, upright plants that are great for rock gardens, border plantings and edible landscapes. Rugen produces smaller, elongated red berries with a sweet flavor. First grown over 250 years ago in France, these Alpine natives grow well in either sun or shade.

The Hailstone Radish is a round white radish with a very crisp flesh that is a nice color contrast on relish trays and in salads. This quick growing radish is suitable to both spring and fall planting. Begin harvesting this radish variety when its nearly an inch across.

Interior texture is smooth and dense with bright white color, even when roots get large. Exceptional quality and taste when picked young, but still tasty if allowed to sit in the garden longer, giving gardener an extended harvest opportunity.

The Buena Mulata Pepper is beautiful ornamental hot pepper that ripens from a vivid violet to zesty orange, then to deep red! This old heirloom variety traces back to Horace Pippin, an African-American folk artist. When ripe, the pepper will get to around 6 inches in length and will have a heat level that is similar to a cayenne pepper. The Buena Mulata can be used fresh or dried to give any dish a slight kick!

An All American Selection Pepper, need we say more! The Gypsy pepper is a yellow to orange hot pepper. Grows to about 2x4" in size. Excellent when used in salads, frying, or stews.

The Federle Tomato is an uniquely shaped paste variety that has a wonderful tangy flavor that is perfect for making salsa! This variety was introduced by R. W. Richardson of New York in 1991. He had obtained the tomato through a seed swap with a gardener from West Virginia.

Early maturing cabbage with tight heads! Stonehead is a fast grower with 6" heads that average between 4-6 lbs. when mature. Good texture and flavor. This hybrid resist yellow and black rot very well. A great market variety that matures early, won't split and holds well after harvest. Grows well throughout the United States. An All American Selection winner in 1969.

The French Breakfast Radish has a delicate flavor and is an excellent variety for home gardens. This radish variety is an attractive uniquely shaped radish with elongated roots and red tops with white tips. The French Breakfast has an excellent flavor and texture, that is perfect for dips or as a garnish.

In the early stages of fruit development, the Indigo Rose Tomato develops a dark purple pigment in its skin where exposed to direct sunlight. It is one of the darkest varieties on the market! This vigorous tomato starts out green when unripe and then develops into its known purple-red hue when ripe. The small tomatoes can each weigh about 1-2 ounces and have good flavor with 'plummy' overtones. The Indigo Rose's famous dark color looks great when added to any dish.