November is a great month for planting cold-hardy plants and winter annuals… and for enjoying your garden! Here’s a look at what you can plant this month, tasks you should forgo to help your plants get ready for winter, and more.
When I first moved to Tucson, new friends told me that November was their favorite month, and I can see why. The weather is typically delightful. Existing plants have recovered from their summer stress while new plants add fresh beauty. There’s still time to add many plants, or just relax and enjoy your garden.
November Weather Outlook
The days are noticeably shorter, and it finally starts to feel like fall! This month’s average highs and lows (in Tucson and Phoenix) are at least 10 degrees cooler than October’s. The sun is less intense as the UV index continues to drop. And those nighttime lows are getting refreshingly chilly!
Here’s a look at November weather averages in both Tucson and Phoenix.
November Weather Averages (Tucson)
| High temperature | 75°F |
| Low temperature | 48°F |
| Precipitation | .48″ |
| Relative humidity | 36% |
| UV Index | 4.4 |
| Wind | 13 mph |
November Weather Averages (Phoenix)
| High temperature | 77°F |
| Low temperature | 54°F |
| Precipitation | .54″ |
| Relative humidity | 33% |
| UV Index | 3.7 |
| Wind | 6 mph |
If you live elsewhere, enter your city or town in the search bar at TimeandDate.com to find your weather averages. You can find your monthly average UV index at UVIndex.io.
What To Do in the Garden in November
Gardening activities are winding down from October, which is one of the busiest months in desert gardens. Here’s a snapshot of the activities you can and/or should do this month and those you should skip.
| ✅ | Plant cold-hardy plants |
| ✅ | Sow wildflower seeds |
| ✅ | Get plants ready for cold |
| ✅ | Take care of new plants |
| ❌ | Don’t plant frost-sensitive plants |
| ❌ | Don’t prune |
| ❌ | Don’t fertilize |
Read on for all the details and exceptions!
What to Plant in November
Gardeners are often concerned that November is too late to plant. But it’s actually a great time to add plants to your garden, as long as they aren’t frost-sensitive. Plant these this month:
- aloes
- cold-weather annuals
- cold-weather herbs and vegetables
- native and cold-hardy shrubs and trees
- spring flowering bulbs
While you can plant citrus trees this month, be prepared to cover them if there is a freeze since newly planted trees are more prone to frost damage.
It’s also time to:
- Sow spring wildflower seeds
- Move shrubs, ground covers, vines, ornamental grasses
- Move or divide perennials
If possible, move or divide plants on a still, cloudy day, which cuts down on evaporation loss. If that’s not possible, at least provide them with temporary shade for a few days.
Recommended Reading:
How to Grow Desert Wildflowers (the Easy Way)
Planting Winter Annuals
Planting is my favorite part of gardening, and planting in containers is my favorite kind of planting. It’s so easy (no holes to dig!) and there’s instant gratification.
A visit to most nurseries this time of year will wow you with eye-popping spreads of colorful annuals including snapdragons, alyssum, lobelia, stock, petunias, and, of course, pansies, the most cold-hardy winter annual of all.
According to Marylee Pangman, Tucson’s leading authority on potted plants and author of Getting Potted in the Desert, winter annuals should be planted once the nighttime lows are consistently in the mid-fifties. She’s found that waiting for cool nights will help ensure your annuals are robust and beautiful. If you didn’t plant your winter annuals in October, plant them this month.
Done with your fall planting?
6 “Green” Ways to Get Rid of Your Nursery Pots
Watering New Plants
Even though it’s cooler, you still need to water new plants more frequently than established ones. Water new perennials every two to three days for the first two weeks, then gradually reduce watering to once a week for the near future. Here’s a recommended schedule for watering newly planted shrubs and trees.
| Weeks 1 & 2 | Every 3 – 4 days |
| Weeks 3 & 4 | Every 5 – 7 days |
| Weeks 5 & 6 | Every 7 – 10 days |
| Weeks 7 & 8 | Every 10 – 14 days |
How often to water after this depends on the plant. You can check on the ongoing water requirements for specific plants in our Desert Plant Library.
Watering Established Plants
It’s time to harden off your established landscape plants for winter. This makes them less susceptible to cold damage. Continue to give your plants the same amount of water with each watering, but cut back on the frequency, using this chart as a guideline.
By the end of November, you can stop watering succulents such as hesperaloe, desert spoon, prickly pear, barrel cactus, and other cactus. Winter rains normally provide adequate water between fall and spring. Succulents don’t like cold, wet feet. Too much water makes succulents more susceptible to winter freeze injury and can cause root rot.
Not sure how to water in November?
Our Desert Watering Resources can help.
What to Fertilize
Don’t fertilize your landscape plants in November. Feeding them now can encourage new frost-sensitive growth. But what you can do instead is topdress your plants, especially new ones, with organic mulch or compost. Mulch retains moisture and protects plant roots from temperature extremes. As it breaks down, it adds organic matter to your soil and encourages the growth of beneficial microbes.
You can continue to fertilize flowering annuals in containers.
What to Prune
Don’t prune cold-sensitive plants this month, since it encourages new growth. However, you can prune any dead, diseased, or broken branches on shrubs or trees.
And you can deadhead annuals to encourage bushiness and flowering.
Recommended Reading:
Get Your Desert Garden Ready for Winter
Check Your Fruit Trees
If you’re growing tangelos, navel oranges, or limes, check them this month — they may be ripe. But for most citrus, you’ll have to wait a few months. Color is not the best way to determine if citrus is ready. When ripe, fruits should have a pleasant citrusy smell and have some heft when you hold them.
Pomegranates may be ready to eat this month. A ripe pomegranate should have smooth skin, but be lumpy rather than perfectly round. It should feel weighty and make a metallic sound when you tap on it.
Get Prepared for Frost Now
November always takes me by surprise. I feel like I’ve spent forever trying to help my plants survive the heat, and now suddenly I’m thinking about protecting them from frost!
The average first frost date in Tucson is December 3, but it can happen earlier. (The earliest freeze on record was October 16th.) According to the weather data on Garden.org, there’s a 20% chance that there will be a frost by the end of November. You can find your first frost date by zip code here.
So don’t get caught short. Gather what you need to protect your plants before the first freeze warning, so you don’t have to scramble when it happens.
Many gardeners improvise with old towels or sheets, but actual frost cloth has some advantages. It lets in air and light, can be left up for days. If there’s rain, it dries fast and won’t weigh your plants down.
Skip the “shrub blankets” with drawstrings or zippers. They may seem like a good idea because they stay in place, but you want the cover to drape to absorb heat from the ground. Think “ghosts not lollipops”.
I prefer buying large sheets of frost cloth which I cut to size as needed.
Recommended Reading:
Month-By-Month Gardening in the Desert Southwest
by Mary Irish
Fun Fall Gardening Events in November
While October’s plant sales are over, there are still plenty of gardening classes and events in November. You’ll find a comprehensive list of nurseries, botanical gardens, and organizations that hold classes, events, and sales in our Tucson Gardening Event Guide.
And when you sign up for Southwest Gardener’s weekly newsletter, you’ll get reminders of upcoming events so you never have to worry about missing out.
Don’t live in Tucson? Look for online classes. You can participate in these no matter where you live.
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Author Bio
Deane Alban is the creator of Southwest Gardener. She studied journalism and received a bachelor’s degree in botany from the University of South Florida. Gardening is her lifelong passion. She’s been gardening in Tucson for over 16 years.
