One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant kale in Lakeland should be determined 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.

You can plant kale a little earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant kale in Lakeland 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 kale and expect a good harvest is probably October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your kale may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your kale indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on February 15 in Lakeland. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Lakeland is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Lakeland it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to protect your kale if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Lakeland

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 Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°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 Lakeland

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