Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Lathrop you can figure out when it's a good idea to plant flowering kale by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Flowering Kale

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

Since flowering kale are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant flowering kale in Lathrop 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 flowering kale and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your flowering kale may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your flowering kale indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Lathrop. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Lathrop may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Lathrop it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to cover your flowering kale in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lathrop

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Lathrop

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