When to Plant Flowering Kale in Willow Springs, IL

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can determine when it's the best time to plant flowering kale in Willow Springs by referring to 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 do well in moderate cold which means that you can plant them earlier 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 Willow Springs 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 little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Willow Springs. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Willow Springs is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Willow Springs you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your flowering kale if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Willow Springs

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 Willow Springs

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Willow Springs.