One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant flowering kale in Santa Barbara can be determined by using 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 Santa Barbara 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 really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your flowering kale indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on January 31 in Santa Barbara. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 30°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Santa Barbara may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Santa Barbara there is a last frost after January 31 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your flowering kale if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Santa Barbara

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Santa Barbara

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Santa Barbara.