One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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 Bowie you can figure out when it's a good idea to plant decorative kale 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 tend to make it in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant decorative kale in Bowie 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. 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 little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Bowie. It might get as low as 5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Bowie is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Bowie there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your decorative kale in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Bowie

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Bowie

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