One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of getting a good idea when it's a good idea to plant decorative kale is to use the USDA zone info for Ripley.

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 are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a little earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant decorative kale in Ripley 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. If you wait any later than that and your decorative kale may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your decorative kale indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Ripley the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Ripley is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Ripley there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your decorative kale in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Ripley

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

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

Plants to Grow in Ripley

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