When to Plant Flowering Kale in Helena, MT

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first chance to plant flowering kale in Helena can be estimated by using the USDA zone info.


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 tend to make it in a little bit of cold which means that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant flowering kale
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant flowering kale
Probably not a good time to plant flowering kale

The earliest that you can plant flowering kale in Helena 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 flowering kale and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your flowering kale may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your flowering kale indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Helena. You should expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Helena is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Helena last frost occurs after May 15 be ready to protect your flowering kale in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Helena

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 Helena

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