One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

A common way of getting a good idea when it's the best time to plant decorative kale is to examine the USDA zone info for Billings.

Planting Calendar for Decorative Kale

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

You can plant decorative kale a little bit earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant decorative kale in Billings 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your decorative kale may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks 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 Billings. You should expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Billings and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Billings you get surprised by a frost after May 15 be ready to protect your decorative kale in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Billings

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Billings

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