The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By looking at the USDA zone info for New Bern it's a good idea to determine when it's a good idea to plant flowering kale.

Planting Calendar for Flowering Kale

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

Flowering Kale can survive in some cold which means that you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant flowering kale in New Bern is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant flowering kale and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your flowering kale may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your flowering kale indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in New Bern. You can expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for New Bern is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in New Bern you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your flowering kale if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for New Bern

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in New Bern

You may be interested in your other planting guides for New Bern.