What to Plant in November, Zone by Zone

October 02, 2026

November planting decisions come down to one number: how many days are left before your ground freezes solid. That number is different in Zone 4b than it is in Zone 9a, and a generic “fall planting” list that ignores the gap is not useful to either gardener. Below is what actually makes sense to put in the ground this month, organized by the zone bands most of you are already tracking.

If you want the full fall-to-spring sequence worked out for your region instead of piecing it together zone by zone, our regional planting guides lay out the whole season, planting date by planting date.

First-frost reality check before you plant anything:

• Zones 3b-4b: first frost already behind you, mid-September to early October
• Zones 5a-5b: first frost early to mid-October
• Zones 6a-6b: first frost mid to late October
• Zones 7a-7b: first frost late October to mid-November
• Zones 8a-8b: first frost mid to late November, if it happens at all
• Zones 9a-9b: frost is rare and brief when it shows up
• Zones 10a-10b: effectively frost-free

Zones 3b-4b: The Season Is Already Over

If you garden in 3b or 4a, your first frost landed weeks ago and soil temperatures are already below the 40°F threshold most seeds need to germinate. November here is cleanup and protection, not planting. The one exception is garlic: if you missed your October window, cloves can still go in as long as the soil isn’t frozen solid, planted 2 inches deep and mulched heavily with 4-6 inches of straw. Cover crops like winter rye are past their sowing window at this latitude once soil temps drop into the 30s, so bare beds should get a heavy mulch layer instead and wait for a spring cover crop.

Zones 5a-5b: The Last Window for Garlic and Cover Crops

Zone 5a and 5b still have a few weeks of workable soil before the ground locks up. Garlic planted now, 2 inches deep with 3-4 inches of mulch, has enough time to root before dormancy and will size up normally next summer. Winter rye or hairy vetch can still be broadcast on empty beds in early November in 5b if soil temperature at planting depth is still above 40°F. Check it with a soil thermometer rather than guessing. Once soil temps drop below that, the seed will sit dormant through winter and germinate unevenly in spring, which defeats the point of a cover crop.

Zones 6a-6b: Cold Frames and the Final Direct-Sow Crops

Zone 6a gardeners have a narrower window than 6b, typically 10-14 fewer frost-free days, and that gap matters for anything you’re direct-sowing this month. Spinach and mache are the two crops with enough cold tolerance to go in now under a row cover or cold frame in both 6a and 6b; spinach germinates down to 35°F soil temperature, slowly, but it will still be ready for an early spring harvest. Garlic planting should be finished by mid-November in 6a and can run a week or two later in 6b. Anything else, including lettuce and brassicas, is too late to direct-sow at this latitude without heated protection.

Zones 7a-7b: Lettuce, Carrots, and a Real Frost-Date Calculation

With first frost landing anywhere from late October to mid-November across 7a and 7b, there’s still a real planting window here, not just a cleanup one. Loose-leaf lettuce and spinach can go in now under row cover and reach harvest size in 45-55 days, which puts them past the worst of the cold if sown in the first week of the month. Carrots sown now will germinate slowly in cooling soil but overwinter in the ground under mulch for a late-winter harvest, a trick that actually improves their flavor once they’ve been through a few hard frosts. Garlic should be in the ground already; if it isn’t, get it in during the first half of November and mulch heavily.

Zones 8a-8b: Texas and the Southeast’s Second Vegetable Season

This is where November stops being a cleanup month and starts being an active planting month. In 8a and 8b, including most of central and south Texas and much of the coastal Southeast, hard frost is infrequent and often doesn’t arrive until late November if at all. That means cool-season crops planted now, including broccoli, cabbage, kale, and carrots, have a full growing window ahead of them rather than a race against the clock. Garlic planted in early November will have time to establish a strong root system before any cold snap. If you’re in Texas specifically, treat this as your primary fall vegetable planting window, not a tail end of one.

Zones 9a-9b: Peak Cool-Season Planting

Zone 9a and 9b see frost rarely enough that November functions as a primary planting month rather than a closing one. This band covers much of Florida and the warmer parts of Texas, where soil temperatures stay well above germination thresholds all month. Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and bulb onions all go in now and will mature through the mild winter ahead. Lettuce and spinach succession-sow cleanly every two to three weeks through the rest of fall. Garlic planted in 9a and 9b needs a short-day variety; long-day types sold for northern gardens won’t bulb properly at this latitude.

Zones 10a-10b: No Frost, No Pause

In 10a and 10b, frost essentially doesn’t factor into the November planting decision. Warm-season crops that survived summer heat, including peppers and some tomato varieties, are often still producing, and cool-season crops go in alongside them rather than replacing them. This is the one zone band where you’re managing two overlapping seasons at once instead of closing one out. Soil temperature stays warm enough all month that germination timing for anything you sow is governed by day length and humidity, not cold.

Fall-Sow Perennials for Spring Color

Separate from the vegetable schedule above, November is also a legitimate window for cold-stratified perennial flower seed, which needs a period of winter chill to germinate reliably in spring. This is ornamental planting, not food production, and the timing logic is different: you’re relying on winter cold to break dormancy rather than racing against it.

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Tall lupine is a good match for zones 4 through 8, where it gets the sustained chill it needs over winter and comes back as a reliable early-summer bloomer. is sized for a cold-stratification sowing like this rather than a spring direct-sow packet.

Sweet alyssum is more forgiving of a range of chill hours and works as a low border planting across a wider zone range. in the 1 lb size is enough for a season of border plantings without the leftover seed viability loss you get from buying in bulk.

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