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.

A common way of figuring out when it's possible to plant kale is to consult the USDA zone info for Decatur.

Planting Calendar for Kale

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

Kale tend to make it in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant kale in Decatur 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. Any later than that and your kale may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your kale indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Decatur. You can expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Decatur is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Decatur last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your kale if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Decatur

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°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 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Decatur

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