When to Plant Decorative Kale in Mission Viejo, CA

One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Mission Viejo can be reviewed to estimate when it's the best time to plant decorative kale.


Planting Calendar for Decorative Kale

Frost tolerance for decorative kale: Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant: Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Decorative Kale are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which means that you can plant them a little bit earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant decorative kale
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant decorative kale
Probably not a good time to plant decorative kale

The earliest that you can plant decorative kale in Mission Viejo is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant decorative kale and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your decorative kale may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your decorative kale indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Mission Viejo the average date of last frost happens on January 31. You can expect an average low temperature of 35°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Mission Viejo may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Mission Viejo it frosts late in the year after January 31 be ready to protect your decorative kale if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Mission Viejo

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)December 15
Lowest Expected Low35°F
Highest Expected Low40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in Mission Viejo

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Mission Viejo.