OverviewCalendarBedsPlantsFall / WinterPropagateAlliumsShoppingGuide
Decatur, GA · Zone 8a

Garden

Beds, plants, hydroponics, and the season's work. Start with the calendar for what is due; everything else is reference.

Calendar Dated tasks for the seasonBeds Maps for the 3 raised bedsPlants 101 varieties with care guidesFall / Winter Sept 2026 – Feb 2027 planPropagate Divide, cut, layer, save seedAlliums Garlic, onions, chives, scallionsShopping Where to buy, stock-checkedGuide Principles, pests, infrastructure

Key dates Fall / Winter plan →

Last call for slow cropsSept 30
Garlic windowOct 25 – Nov 15
Average first frost (32°F)≈ Nov 12
Onion transplantsNov 15 – Dec 15
First hard freeze (≤28°F)≈ early Dec
Spring peas & potatoesFeb 1 – Mar 10

Summer 2026 planting for reference

Tomato plants14
Basil plants~18
Pepper plants8
Okra plants4
Grow bags8

This month: what to divide or save seed from

Divide now

Oct 8 – 25

Warm soil and five weeks to frost: these root in before winter.

  • Oregano Dig, split into fist-sized pieces with roots, compost the dead center, replant 12 in apart.
  • Thyme Lift the mat and pull into rooted sections, or pin low stems and cut them free in March.
  • Garlic chives Cut to 3 in, dig, pull into clusters of 6–10 bulbs, replant 8 in apart. Bin the seed heads.
  • Evergreen bunching onion Pull the tillered clump apart; every rooted stalk is a plant. The seed-grown scallions are harvested, not divided.
  • Strawberry Move runner plantlets that already have white roots. Crown exactly at soil level.
  • Liriope Split into 3–5 fan pieces for edging; lift spicata runners to spread it.
  • Ornamental allium Lift and twist off the daughter bulbs, only if the clump is crowded or blooming poorly.
  • Peony Only if it needs it. 3–5 eyes per piece, eyes no deeper than 1 in. Expect no bloom in 2027.
  • Scabiosa Divide if the center has died; keep the outer rosettes.

Seed to collect now

October

Few perennials here are worth growing from seed; these are the ones.

  • Summer savory If it is the annual summer savory, cut the brown spikes into a paper bag. Winter savory is cuttings only.
  • Redbud Brown pods in October, hot-water soak, 8 weeks cold in the fridge, sow in March. Optional, but fun.
  • Garlic chives (do not keep) Plenty of seed, but it self-sows aggressively. Deadhead and bin it.

Ready for seed, but annual here

October

Not perennials, but they are ready right now and easy to miss.

  • Heirloom tomatoes Ferment 2–3 days, dry a week, envelope.
  • Peppers Seed from fully colored fruit only. Or pot up one jalapeño or cayenne to overwinter as a plant.
  • Okra Let 3–4 pods dry brown on one tagged plant.
  • Dill Cut brown umbels into a bag; scatter half back on the herb bag.

Wait: winter or spring

Dec 2026 – Mar 2027

Right plant, wrong month. Dividing these now sets them back or kills them.

  • Chives Plant the Pike clumps whole; divide March–April 2027.
  • September natives and grasses Lovegrass, shield fern, wild ginger, yarrow, penstemon, mistflower, nodding onion: March, mostly 2028.
  • Raspberry Cut spent canes now; dig suckers Dec–Feb.
  • Blueberry Hardwood cuttings in January.
  • Egyptian walking onion Plant any top-sets now; the clump needs 3–4 years before dividing.

Cuttings instead, this week

Oct 8 – 20

Woody herbs and the new shrubs propagate by cuttings, not seed or division.