What to Plant in December in Australia

Australian note: this page follows southern-hemisphere seasons, so December is in summer. The lists below are grouped by five climate zones: temperate, subtropical, tropical, arid and cool. The Australian Vegetable Garden Planner uses the same five zones. For every crop across the year, see the Australian vegetable planting calendar.

Crops from spring are coming in while some start to fade in the heat. There are still plenty of warm months ahead, so keep sowing. Temperatures can reach extremes, with bushfire risk in dry, windy spells.

What to plant in December, by climate

Australia spans five growing climates, so one list cannot fit all of them. Find yours below, then read the notes for that climate. December falls in Australian summer.

Crop lists show what both Gardenate and Deep Green Permaculture list for that climate. The two share a common lineage, so we treat them as one view and use ABC Organic Gardener's monthly column as the independent check. "Start under cover" marks heat-lovers those lists include that ABC advises keeping out of cold soil.

Where three sources agree in December

These 17 crops are given for December by all three of the Perth (WA Waste Authority), Adelaide (Green Adelaide) and Melbourne (City of Darebin) guides. They are temperate-zone city sources, not a statewide rule, so treat them as a cross-check and not a promise for Sydney, Canberra, Hobart or anywhere in the tropics or arid inland.

Temperate and cool gardens in December

• Sow a succession of corn, bush beans, tomatoes, zucchini, beetroot, capsicum, lettuce, fennel, carrot, potato, radish, spring onion and rocket.
• If your cucurbits are not in, plant pumpkin, watermelon, rockmelon, squash and cucumber now.
• Grow cucumbers up a trellis where space is tight.

Subtropical gardens in December

• Not an ideal month for a wide range. Try a second sowing of sweet corn, bush beans, loose-leaf lettuce, amaranth and zucchini.
• Conditions suit fruit trees and shrubs, which settle in as wet-season rain arrives.

Tropical gardens in December

• Plant thoughtfully, as the rains are coming. Anything prone to fungal disease or root rot will struggle.
• Stick to proven crops: corn, yams, sweet potato, rosella, okra and snake beans.

Arid and inland gardens in December

• Plant only the survivors that revel in heat: watermelon, and with irrigation capsicum, eggplant, chilli, basil and corn.

Garden jobs for December

• Sow follow-up batches of crops that finish quickly.
• Set up watering before you go away for the holidays.
• Check tomatoes and pick fruit before fruit fly finds it in affected areas.

Plan December on paper

Draw your beds in the free Vegetable Garden Layout Planner Tool, then keep the season together in the Australian Vegetable Garden Planner, which has a sowing chart for every climate. See every crop across the year in the Australian planting calendar, or read the growing guides.

Month by month

• January
• February
• March
• April
• May
• June
• July
• August
• September
• October
• November
• December

Questions about December

Common questions

Sources

• ABC Organic Gardener: What to plant in December
• Deep Green Permaculture: Australian gardening calendars
• Gardenate: Australia planting by zone, December
• ABC Gardening Australia: Top tomato tips

How we checked this

The table above uses three Tier 1 (government) sources for the temperate zone. We read the Perth and Adelaide guides on 4 November 2026 and checked the Melbourne guide on 3 November 2026.

• Green Adelaide, South Australian Government (Tier 1): what to plant when, the month lists and the plant-any-time list for Adelaide.
• Waste Authority of Western Australia (Tier 1): Edible School Garden Guide, the planting and harvest guide for Perth.
• City of Darebin, Victoria (Tier 1): Sow what when guide for Melbourne.

Sydney, Canberra, Hobart, Darwin, Cairns and Alice Springs lists have not been checked against a Tier 1 month table. The crop lists in the climate cards above come from the sources named in the Sources list and have not been changed by this check.

Added 4 November 2026: a Common questions section for December. They use only the two state-government guides above (Green Adelaide and the Waste Authority of Western Australia), and only where both lists were read. We show where the two guides differ and who says what. We did not add an answer for Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Hobart, Canberra or Darwin because no state-government month table was reached for those places.

Last reviewed: 31 October 2026