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.

One way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant flowering kale is to use the USDA zone info for Columbia Falls.

Planting Calendar for Flowering Kale

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

Flowering Kale are moderately cold tolerant which means that you can plant them earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant flowering kale in Columbia Falls 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 flowering kale and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your flowering kale may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your flowering kale indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Columbia Falls. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Columbia Falls is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Columbia Falls there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your flowering kale in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Columbia Falls

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Columbia Falls

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Columbia Falls.