When to Plant Decorative Kale in Zone 9b

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

In Zone 9b you can figure out when it's the best time to plant decorative kale by referring to 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.

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

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant decorative kale
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant decorative kale
Probably not a good time to plant decorative kale

The earliest that you can plant decorative kale in Zone 9b 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else 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 February 15 in Zone 9b. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Zone 9b is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Zone 9b you get a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your decorative kale in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 9b

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)December 15
Lowest Expected Low25°F
Highest Expected Low30°F

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

Plants to Grow in Zone 9b

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 9b.