One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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 chance to plant decorative kale in West Des Moines can be determined by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Decorative Kale

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

Decorative Kale tend to make it in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant decorative kale in West 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 decorative kale and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your decorative kale may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your decorative kale indoors.

Last Frost Date

In West Des Moines the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for West Des Moines is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in West Des Moines there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your decorative kale in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for West Des Moines

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 West Des Moines

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