When to Plant Flowering Kale in Abilene, KS

One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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 USDA zone info for Abilene can be looked at to figure out when it's possible 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.

Since flowering kale do well in moderate cold you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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 Abilene 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your flowering kale may not have a chance to really do well. 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

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Abilene. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Abilene and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Abilene you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your flowering kale if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Abilene

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-10°F
Highest Expected Low-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Abilene

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