One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your 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.

The USDA zone info for Charleston can be looked at to estimate when it's possible to plant flowering kale.

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 do ok in a little bit of cold which means that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant flowering kale in Charleston is January. However, you really should wait until February 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 October. Any later than that and your flowering kale may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your flowering kale indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on February 15 in Charleston. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Charleston and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Charleston it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to cover your flowering kale if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Charleston

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°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 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Charleston

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