One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

A way of figuring out when to plant decorative kale is to look at the USDA zone info for Rocky Mount.

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 are moderately cold tolerant which means that you can start planting them earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant decorative kale in Rocky Mount 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. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your decorative kale indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Rocky Mount. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Rocky Mount is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Rocky Mount you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your decorative kale in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rocky Mount

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Rocky Mount

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Rocky Mount.