The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Sterling you will be able to figure out when it's the best time to plant flowering kale.

Planting Calendar for Flowering Kale

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

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

The earliest that you can plant flowering kale in Sterling 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 fully mature. Starting your flowering kale indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Sterling is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Sterling you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your flowering kale in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Sterling

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 Sterling

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