When to Plant Decorative Kale in Franklin Park, IL

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Franklin Park it's a good idea to determine when to plant decorative kale.


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 are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which means that you can get them planted earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant decorative kale
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant decorative kale
Probably not a good time to plant decorative kale

The earliest that you can plant decorative kale in Franklin Park 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. If you wait any later than that and your decorative kale may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your decorative kale indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Franklin Park. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Franklin Park is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Franklin Park you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your decorative kale if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Franklin Park

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 Franklin Park

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Franklin Park.