When to Plant Flowering Kale in Marseilles, IL

One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your 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 best time to plant flowering kale in Marseilles can be determined by reviewing the USDA zone info.


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 are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant flowering kale in Marseilles 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 really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your flowering kale indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Marseilles and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Marseilles you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your flowering kale in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Marseilles

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 Marseilles

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