December settles Maine into winter — snow deepening across the north, the coast alive with sea ducks, balsam firs cut for Christmas, and the longest nights of the year offering brilliant winter stars. It is the quiet, cold heart of the season, and the time of the Christmas Bird Count.
Week by week in December
December 3–9
- Black-capped chickadees, the state bird, lead the busy winter feeder flocks of titmice, nuthatches, and cardinals through the cold.
- Maine's famous holiday greenery is at full tilt — balsam fir boughs, white pine, cedar, and winterberry fill the wreath barns Down East.
- Winter markets stock balsam wreaths and trees alongside the storage roots, squash, and cranberries for the holiday table.
December 10–16
- The Geminid meteor shower peaks around December 14 with dozens of bright, slow, often colorful meteors an hour — and it's good all evening, not just after midnight.
- The Christmas Bird Count season begins, and birders fan out statewide to tally the wintering coastal sea ducks, owls, and feeder flocks.
- Knock heavy wet snow off arborvitae and shrubs before its weight breaks them, and browse the new seed catalogs arriving this month.
December 17–23
- The winter solstice brings Maine its longest nights of the year, with Orion and the brilliant Winter Hexagon on full display in the cold, clear sky.
- Rafts of common eiders, scoters, and long-tailed ducks ride the cold coastal swells, and purple sandpipers creep over the spray-washed rocks.
- The balsam fir, red spruce, and towering white pine hold the forest's deep green against the deepening snow across the state.
December 24–31
- Feeders are at their winter peak again — keep them full and water available, as the chickadees, juncos, and woodpeckers depend on reliable food now.
- The cold, dry air gives superb transparency for the Pleiades, the Orion Nebula, and the winter Milky Way through Auriga and Gemini.
- Take stock of the year, save and organize seeds, and order early to secure the short-season varieties Maine's brief summer demands.
Birds This Month
December birding in Maine is a winter affair, anchored by the Christmas Bird Count, when birders fan out statewide to tally the wintering species. Feeders are busy with the winter residents — black-capped chickadees (the state bird), tufted titmice, nuthatches, blue jays, cardinals, juncos, woodpeckers, and goldfinches — and in an irruption year the boreal finches: common redpolls, pine siskins, evening grosbeaks, and crossbills. North Woods residents like the boreal chickadee, gray jay, and spruce grouse hold in the conifers.
The coast is the place for variety: rafts of common eiders, scoters, long-tailed ducks, buffleheads, and goldeneye ride the cold swells, harlequin ducks work the rocky points, and purple sandpipers creep over the spray zone. Bald eagles gather at open water, snowy owls hunt the dunes and breakwaters, and the fields hold snow buntings, horned larks, and rough-legged hawks. Keep feeders full and warm water available; the winter birds depend on reliable food now.
What's Blooming
There are no wildflowers blooming in the Maine landscape in December — the ground is frozen and snow-covered statewide. The botanical color comes from the persistent fruits and evergreens of winter: the brilliant red berries of winterberry holly glowing in the frozen wetlands, the hips of rugosa and wild rose on the shore, the orange of bittersweet twining the edges, and the green of club mosses, ground pine, and the lichens decorating every tree.
This is the season of indoor and evergreen color. Forced amaryllis and paperwhites bloom on windowsills for the holidays, and the traditional greenery — balsam fir boughs, white pine and cedar sprays, winterberry, and princess pine — fills wreaths and arrangements across the state, the heart of Maine's famous holiday greenery and wreath industry. Outside, the only 'flowers' are the frost crystals and snow on the bare twigs and the deep green of the conifer forest.
Garden This Month
December is a rest-and-plan month for the Maine garden, with the ground frozen and snow accumulating statewide. The outdoor tasks are protective: keep snow banked over perennial, strawberry, and garlic beds, where it is the best insulation against the deep cold and freeze-thaw heaving, and gently knock heavy, wet snow off arborvitae, yews, and shrubs before its weight bends or breaks them. Continue guarding young fruit trees from the voles and deer that strip bark as the snow deepens.
Mostly, though, December is the gardener's quiet season. Take stock of what worked and what didn't, save and organize seeds, and begin browsing the new catalogs that arrive this month — ordering early secures the popular and short-season varieties that Maine's brief summer demands. Tend houseplants and forced bulbs for living color, keep tools clean and stored, and rest with the garden plan by the fire. The next seeds go under lights in just a couple of months.
Zone 3b (Aroostook & far north): deep winter and deep snow. The growing season is months away — this is purely an armchair-and-catalog month, browsing the short-season varieties the far north depends on.
Zone 4b (interior & mountains): snow is banking over the beds as insulation. Knock heavy wet snow off evergreens and shrubs to prevent breakage, and check that mulch is holding over garlic and perennials.
Zone 5b (Midcoast & south): winter has arrived. Protect broadleaf evergreens from drying wind and sun scald, keep guarding young trees from voles and deer, and start the season's first seed wish-lists.
What's at the Farmers Market
December's winter markets are stocked for the holidays with hardy storage crops and Maine's famous greenery. The cellar keepers fill the stalls — potatoes, carrots, beets, parsnips, turnips, rutabaga, celeriac, winter squash, onions, leeks, and cabbage — alongside frost-sweetened greenhouse spinach and kale, the last apples and cider, and Maine cranberries for the holiday table.
This is peak season for balsam fir Christmas trees, wreaths, and greenery — Maine is a national leader in holiday wreaths, and the markets and lots overflow with them. Round it out with Maine cheeses, eggs, honey, maple syrup, and meats for holiday cooking. Choose storage roots and squash that are firm and unblemished, keep them cool and dark, and stand greenhouse greens loosely wrapped in the fridge. A fresh-cut balsam keeps best with a fresh cut on the trunk and plenty of water. Stock up now before the markets thin into deep winter.
Night Sky This Month
December brings the winter solstice and Maine's longest nights of the year — prime time for stargazing, with the brilliant winter sky on full display. Orion dominates the southeast by mid-evening, his belt pointing down to brilliant Sirius rising behind him, and the great Winter Hexagon — Sirius, Procyon, Pollux, Capella, Aldebaran, and Rigel — sprawls across the long dark sky. The Pleiades and the Orion Nebula are gorgeous in binoculars on a frigid, still night.
The year's best meteor shower for Maine is the Geminids, peaking around December 14 with dozens of bright, slow, often colorful meteors an hour radiating from Gemini — and unlike the Perseids, the Geminids are good all evening, not just after midnight. Bundle up well. The cold, dry air gives superb transparency, and the far north catches the aurora on active nights. The printable Maine night-sky guide gives this year's exact Geminid peak, planet positions, and aurora outlook for your region.
Butterflies & Pollinators
No butterflies fly in Maine in December — the deep cold and snow leave the landscape entirely dormant. Every species is sheltering in the stage that will carry it through the winter, exactly where it spent November. The hardy overwintering adults — mourning cloak, eastern comma, and question mark — are wedged into bark crevices, woodpiles, and tree cavities, their bodies protected by natural antifreeze compounds against temperatures that would otherwise be lethal.
The others wait insulated beneath the snow: Canadian tiger swallowtail and white admiral chrysalids hang frozen on twigs and in the leaf litter, and fritillary caterpillars hibernate tiny in the frozen duff beneath the violets, biding their time until spring. Far to the south, the monarchs are clustered in their Mexican overwintering forests, generations removed from the ones that will eventually return to Maine. December is the deepest pause in the butterfly year, the long wait for the distant spring.
Trees This Month
December is when Maine's evergreens define the landscape and the culture. The balsam fir is the star — its spires fill the woods and its fragrant boughs fill the Christmas-tree lots and the wreath barns of Down East, where Maine's renowned holiday greenery industry runs at full tilt. With it stand the dark spires of red spruce, white and black spruce, and the soft, towering white pine, the state tree, holding the forest's deep green against the snow.
The bare hardwoods show their winter character: the chalk-white bark of paper birch, the smooth gray of beech still clinging to pale leaves, and the dark trunks of the maples and oaks, the latter holding russet leaves into the cold. The tamarack stands bare and gray in the bogs, its needles long dropped. All the trees are fully dormant now, buds set tight, sap withdrawn, waiting out the deep cold of the solstice for the distant return of the light.
Weather & Daylight
Across Maine, a typical December day averages a high near 31°F and a low near 14°F, with about 4.1 inches of precipitation — statewide averages from the 1991–2020 U.S. climate normals.
Deep winter returns, low-30s days and frigid mid-teens nights, with the wettest month's mix of snow and cold rain closing out the year.
| Average high | 31°F |
|---|---|
| Average low | 14°F |
| Precipitation | 4.1 in |
| Sunrise (mid-month) | 7:07 ET |
| Sunset (mid-month) | 15:58 ET |
Figures are statewide averages over the 1991–2020 U.S. climate normals; local conditions vary with elevation and distance from the coast. Sunrise and sunset are computed for a midstate point on the 15th (ET).
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Same month elsewhere: December in Maryland · December in Massachusetts · December in Michigan