One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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 USDA zone info for Meriden should be read to figure out when it's the best time to plant flowering kale.

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 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 flowering kale in Meriden 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 flowering kale and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your flowering kale may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your flowering kale indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Meriden. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Meriden and it is different every year. Half of the time in Meriden you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your flowering kale in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Meriden

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Meriden

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