One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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 Merrill can be used to estimate when it's a good idea 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 plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant flowering kale in Merrill is March. However, you really should wait until April 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 August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your flowering kale may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your flowering kale indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Merrill. It might get as low as -30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Merrill is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Merrill last frost occurs after May 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your flowering kale in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Merrill

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-30°F
Highest Expected Low	-25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -25°F.

Plants to Grow in Merrill

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