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.

In Napoleon you can figure out when it's the best time to plant kale by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Kale

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

Kale do well in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Napoleon. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Napoleon may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Napoleon last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your kale in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Napoleon

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Napoleon

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