One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the 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 earliest that you can plant decorative kale in Richmond can be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Decorative Kale

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

Decorative Kale are moderately cold tolerant which means that you can get them planted earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant decorative kale in Richmond 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 decorative kale and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your decorative kale may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your decorative kale indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Richmond. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Richmond may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Richmond last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your decorative kale if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Richmond

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 Richmond

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