How to Grow Flowering Cabbage/Kale

Flowering kale and cabbage are classics in the fall garden, adding intriguing autumnal colors to both flower and vegetable gardens. Flowering kale and cabbage need full sun and do best in the cooler temperatures of fall.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Bypass Pruners
• Compost Makers
• Fertilizers
• Garden Spades
• Garden Trowels
• Mulch
• Plants
• Seeds
• Seeds
• Plants

1. Read labels carefully. All kales and cabbages are edible, but some varieties are grown more for their color than for their flavor or tenderness.

2. Check your nursery for seedlings in late summer and early fall. Or, start from seeds in midsummer in the North and late summer in the South.

3. Sow seeds in a corner of the vegetable garden. Plant 1/2-inch deep and 3 inches apart. Then transplant to their final place elsewhere in the garden.

4. Plant seedlings or mature plants in average, well-drained soil, spaced 10 to 12 inches apart.

5. Keep soil moist.

6. Trim fading or diseased leaves as needed.

7. Pull up and discard plants in early winter once they've faded and withered.

Tips & Warnings

• Flowering cabbage and kale are beautiful in flower beds, but are especially nice in pots close to the house, where their gorgeous color variations can best be appreciated.
• If planting from seed, be sure to keep the soil moist at all times - a challenge in midsummer - or the cabbages and kale won't germinate.
• Don't plant flowering kale or cabbage too early or it will "bolt;" that is, hot weather will make the stem elgonate and create a gangly, unattractive plant.