One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

You can estimate when it's the best time to plant decorative kale in Grand Rapids by looking at 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.

Since decorative kale do well in moderate cold you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant decorative kale in Grand Rapids is March. However, you really should wait until April 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 August. If you wait any later than that and your decorative kale may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your decorative kale indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on May 15 in Grand Rapids. It might get as low as -35°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Grand Rapids may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Grand Rapids you get surprised by a frost after May 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your decorative kale if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Grand Rapids

Here is the info for USDA Zone 3b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-35°F
Highest Expected Low	-30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -30°F.

Plants to Grow in Grand Rapids

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Grand Rapids.