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.

The first opportunity to plant decorative kale in Ridgecrest can be figured out by using the USDA zone info.

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 a bit earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant decorative kale in Ridgecrest 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 decorative kale and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else 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

In Ridgecrest the average date of last frost happens on March 15. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Ridgecrest may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Ridgecrest there is a last frost after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your decorative kale if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Ridgecrest

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Ridgecrest

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