
By Jenn Russo, Outreach Librarian
January 22, 2025
Winter is a time of fluctuating temperatures for us in Central Florida, yet it's the ideal time to
plant cold-hardy vegetables. You can also plant beautiful winter annuals like pansies and
petunias. In Florida, every month offers unique planting opportunities. Remember, each plant has specific needs, so it's essential to consider soil, light, and water
requirements.

If you’re just starting to plan your garden this month you may want to use a Garden Planner. Using a garden planner every season helps keep track of what works and what doesn’t and planning for the future. If you’re still designing your garden layout this month try researching Companion Planting and Crop Rotation. These help to give your garden an organic advantage to prevent your soil from being depleted and decreasing the number of pests in your garden. These tools can easily be found with a simple search of the internet.
For everything, there is a season, and when it comes to gardening, there’s a season where you need to stay vigilant about keeping your plants warm. If you want to extend your Winter season crops or get a head start on your Spring season crops, it’s even more important to be aware of when temperatures will drop. You’ll want to make sure you protect your plants from the cold. While Winter is a great time to plant in Florida, it’s also a good time to get a frost blanket if you don’t have one already. There may be several times you’ll need to cover your plants, typically during December through March.
While flowering, warm-season vegetables (like peppers and cucumbers) are easily damaged by cold weather, cool-season vegetables (like leaf and root vegetables) are more resilient to hard freezes. When temperatures cool, cool-season vegetables produce more sugar.
Sugar water freezes at a lower temperature than water. This keeps the water in the cells from freezing and bursting the cell walls. In addition, these plants have cell membranes that are able to expand more from the ice that forms, which prevents bursting through the cell walls. One great thing about cold snaps, besides fewer pests, is that cool-season vegetables end up tasting better.
The best time to water your plants in Winter is during the daytime. The ground absorbs heat during the day and gives off warmth to plants at night. If temperatures are going to drop below 40, you can help increase the soil warmth by watering your plants early in the day before the temperature drops. This will help insulate your plants. The moisture in the soil will absorb more heat during the day, and then release it at night to keep your plants warm. You can also use 2-3 inches of ground cover, like wood chips or straw to help to keep your plants warm.
Winter is a great time to use raised garden beds and container gardens as well. Not only are
these beds fun and attractive, but raising crops off the ground will protect them from the cold
and keep them warmer during a freeze. One of the things I love about living in Florida is that you can grow food all year round. Florida is a place where you still have a full list of vegetables to plant even in Winter!
Visit Winter Park Library’s Seed Library to get free seeds in Winter, Spring, and Fall.
While supplies last