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.

The USDA zone info for Derby should be reviewed to estimate when you can 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.

Flowering Kale do ok in a little bit of cold which means that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant flowering kale in Derby 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. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your flowering kale indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Derby the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Derby and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Derby there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your flowering kale if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Derby

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Derby

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