When to Plant Flowering Kale in Palo Alto, CA

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of estimating when it's possible to plant flowering kale is to consult the USDA zone info for Palo Alto.


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 are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which means that you can plant them earlier than other frost tender plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant flowering kale in Palo Alto 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your flowering kale may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your flowering kale indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on February 15 in Palo Alto. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Palo Alto may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Palo Alto last frost occurs after February 15 be ready to protect your flowering kale in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Palo Alto

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 Low25°F
Highest Expected Low30°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 Palo Alto

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Palo Alto.