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.

You should be able to figure out when it's possible to plant decorative kale by checking out the USDA zone info for Chico.

Planting Calendar for Decorative Kale

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

You can plant decorative kale just a bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant decorative kale in Chico 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. If you wait any later than that and your decorative kale may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your decorative kale indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Chico. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Chico is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Chico there is a last frost after February 15 be ready to protect your decorative kale if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Chico

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Chico

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Chico.