What plants can I grow in a winter garden?

Cold-hardy greens and roots hold through freezing weather: kale, spinach, mache, leeks, chard, carrots, and radish. Which of these keep producing depends on the low your yard hits. A still yard runs below the area average, so sort the crops by cold tolerance and match the hardiest to your coldest spot.

What vegetables keep growing through winter?

Most winter crops slow to a near-stop once daylight drops, so they hold size more than they grow. Hardy greens like spinach, kale, and mache stay standing and edible through hard freezes. You harvest what you grew in fall.

When should I plant a winter garden?

Sow in late summer to early fall so crops reach most of their size before the light fades and cold slows growth. We sowed lettuce and spinach on July 29 in our own beds, with radish going in July 9. Earlier sowings give bigger plants going into the cold.

How cold can winter vegetables tolerate?

Tolerance varies by crop: hardy greens shrug off hard freezes while lettuce quits near a light frost. Match each crop to the low your yard reaches, since a still, clear yard runs colder than the area forecast. Our own coldest night hit 3°F, which is below what any leafy green survives uncovered.

September 23, 2026

How to pick plants for a winter garden by your real lows

Winter crops keep producing only when your yard's overnight lows stay above each crop's cold tolerance. A regional forecast reports an area low, and a still, clear yard can run several degrees colder than that number. On cold nights our own station runs about 7°F below the forecast. Pick crops for the low your yard hits, and cover them only on the nights they would otherwise be lost.

Step 1: Read your yard's real low

Dense cold air slides downhill on a still, clear night and settles into low spots, while the ground releases its stored heat to the sky. The area forecast misses that local drop. The public microclimate checker compares the forecast low to what nearby home stations recorded over recent nights and reports how much colder your area runs. Treat that as an area indicator, and use it to set the coldest number you plan around.

Step 2: Sort crops by cold tolerance

Group your list by how much freezing each crop takes before it stops producing. Put the toughest crops in the spots your yard runs coldest.

Hard-freeze hardy. Kale, spinach, mache, and leeks stand through repeated freezes.
Light-freeze tolerant. Chard, carrots, and radish hold through a light frost and quit as it deepens.
Tender. Lettuce takes cool weather but gives out near a frost.

For more on fitting the list to your site, see plants that grow in winter by your microclimate.

Step 3: Time the sowing

Winter crops need to reach most of their size before the light fades, because cold and short days slow new growth to a crawl. Sow in late summer to early fall, earlier for slower crops. Our own beds took direct-seeded lettuce and spinach on July 29, and radish went down July 9. For sowing dates tied to your own site, see winter garden seeds and microclimate sowing.

Step 4: Cover only the nights that would kill

A station-calibrated frost alert fires when the adjusted overnight low drops to or below your garden's threshold, so you cover a crop the night it is at risk and leave it open the rest. A free account lets you type a manual offset into Settings, and every alert then shifts to match your site. On Pro a connected station calibrates its own offset once it has roughly 14 nights where station and forecast overlap, then adjusts automatically.

The learned offset takes time to settle. Siltwell trusts the number only after about 14 nights where the station and the forecast run side by side, so connect one in fall to have it ready for deep winter.

What can go wrong

The microclimate read tells you how much colder your area runs, drawn from nearby stations over recent nights. It is an area and station indicator, not a guaranteed date or low for your exact yard. A frost pocket or an open ridge can sit well off the area number.

A hard cold snap beats any leafy crop. Our own coldest night hit 3°F, below what hardy greens survive uncovered, so plan cover for the worst nights.
A late sowing stays small. Crops seeded too close to the cold never bulk up and give little to harvest.

Run the microclimate check for your yard before you order seed, then buy the hardy end of the list for any spot that runs cold. Pair it with frost-resistant plants against your real low to set your covering nights.

Common questions

What plants can I grow in a winter garden?: Cold-hardy greens and roots hold through freezing weather: kale, spinach, mache, leeks, chard, carrots, and radish. Which of these keep producing depends on the low your yard hits. A still yard runs below the area average, so sort the crops by cold tolerance and match the hardiest to your coldest spot.
What vegetables keep growing through winter?: Most winter crops slow to a near-stop once daylight drops, so they hold size more than they grow. Hardy greens like spinach, kale, and mache stay standing and edible through hard freezes. You harvest what you grew in fall.
When should I plant a winter garden?: Sow in late summer to early fall so crops reach most of their size before the light fades and cold slows growth. We sowed lettuce and spinach on July 29 in our own beds, with radish going in July 9. Earlier sowings give bigger plants going into the cold.
How cold can winter vegetables tolerate?: Tolerance varies by crop: hardy greens shrug off hard freezes while lettuce quits near a light frost. Match each crop to the low your yard reaches, since a still, clear yard runs colder than the area forecast. Our own coldest night hit 3°F, which is below what any leafy green survives uncovered.

Related guides

Free planting tools

When to plant — the last date to sow each crop before your fall frost
Microclimate checker — how much colder your yard runs than the forecast
GDD estimator — whether a crop will ripen where you are