The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. 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 Des Moines should be reffered to in order to determine when you can 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 bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant flowering kale in Des Moines 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. If you wait any later than that and your flowering kale may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your flowering kale indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Des Moines. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Des Moines is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Des Moines last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your flowering kale if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Des Moines

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Des Moines

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Des Moines.