When to Plant Decorative Kale in Mendota, IL

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You will be able to figure out when it's possible to plant decorative kale by using the USDA zone info for Mendota.


Planting Calendar for Decorative Kale

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

You can plant decorative kale a little bit earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

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 Mendota 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. Starting your decorative kale indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Mendota the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Mendota and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Mendota it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your decorative kale in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Mendota

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 Mendota

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