When to Plant Decorative Kale in Bradford, PA

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can estimate when you can plant decorative kale in Bradford by checking out the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Decorative Kale

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

Decorative Kale can survive in a little bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant decorative kale in Bradford 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 fully mature. If you are starting your decorative kale indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Bradford. You can expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Bradford is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Bradford you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your decorative kale if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Bradford

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 Bradford

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