One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's possible to determine when it's a good idea to plant decorative kale by checking out the USDA zone info for Houston.

Planting Calendar for Decorative Kale

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

Since decorative kale are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant decorative kale in Houston 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 decorative kale and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your decorative kale may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your decorative kale indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Houston. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Houston and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Houston it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to cover your decorative kale in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Houston

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 Houston

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