One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

In Bay City you can determine when you can plant kale by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Kale

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

Kale can survive in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant kale in Bay City 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 kale and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your kale may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your kale indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Bay City is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Bay City last frost occurs after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your kale if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Bay City

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 Bay City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Bay City.