Late Spring • Warm Weather • Fast Growth Season
November is one of the biggest planting months in South Africa. The soil is warm, days are long, and almost everything takes off quickly. Perfect for both beginners and busy gardeners.
🥬 Vegetables to Plant Now
Direct sow (into the ground or raised beds):
- Beans (bush & runner)
- Sweetcorn
- Cucumbers
- Zucchini / Baby marrows
- Pumpkins & Butternut
- Beetroot
- Carrots
- Radish
- Swiss chard / Spinach
- Lettuce (heat-tolerant varieties)
Transplant seedlings:
- Tomatoes
- Peppers (sweet + hot)
- Brinjals
- Cabbage
- Cauliflower
- Broccoli (shade during hottest days)
Quick wins for beginners:
Radish, baby spinach, beans, lettuce, cucumbers.
🌼 Flowers to Plant Now
These thrive in heat and give long summer colour:
Seed:
- Zinnias
- Marigolds
- Sunflowers
- Portulaca
- Cosmos (last call)
- Nasturtiums
Seedlings:
- Petunias
- Begonias
- Impatiens (for shade)
- Vinca
- Dianthus
Pollinator favourites: zinnias, cosmos, salvia, lavender.
🍉 Fruit & Herbs
Herbs (they explode in summer):
- Basil (plant lots!)
- Coriander (morning sun only)
- Mint (container)
- Thyme
- Oregano
- Lemon balm
- Chives
Fruit:
- Strawberries
- Watermelons
- Cantaloupe / Spanspek
- Granadillas
- Young citrus trees (perfect planting season)
🌵 Water-Wise Plants
If you want low maintenance + drought tolerant:
- Aloes
- Spekboom
- Agave
- Ice plants
- Gaura
- Gazania
- Lavender
- Indigenous grasses
Great timing for a water-wise overhaul before December heat hits.
🌿 Indigenous Plants to Add This Month
Perfect for pollinators & low water use:
- Scabiosa
- Buchu
- Pelargoniums
- Cape honeysuckle
- Wild dagga (Leonotis)
- Plectranthus
- African daisy species
These handle heat effortlessly and bloom for months.
🌻 Garden Chores for November
Quick checklist:
- Mulch EVERYTHING before the heat spikes
- Feed flowering plants with organic fertilizer
- Stake tomatoes and tall annuals
- Water early morning (not late evening)
- Pinch basil tips to make it bushy
- Watch for aphids and whitefly (use neem)
Let's get growing!
