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

In Minooka you can figure out when it's the best time to plant flowering kale by using 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.

Flowering Kale are moderately cold tolerant which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant flowering kale in Minooka 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. Any later than that and your flowering kale may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your flowering kale indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Minooka. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Minooka is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Minooka you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your flowering kale if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Minooka

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 Minooka

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