One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. 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 kale in Estes Park can be figured out by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Kale

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

Since kale do well in moderate cold you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant kale in Estes Park 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 kale and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your kale may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your kale indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Estes Park. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Estes Park may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Estes Park you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your kale if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Estes Park

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°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 -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Estes Park

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Estes Park.