How to Grow & Care for Ornamental Cabbage & Kale

Add color to your garden with ornamental kale and cabbage.

Ornamental cabbage and kale are edible but have a bitter taste. Also called flowering cabbage and kale, these plants are often used as garnishes or to fill in spaces in your garden. The kale has fringed flower heads, and the ornamental cabbage grows smooth, flat leaves. Both are very colorful, adding shades of purple, white, red or pink to your landscape. Ornamental cabbage and kale are hardy and can tolerate temperatures as low as 5 degrees Fahrenheit. In fact, they don't handle heat well, so plant them during cooler seasons.

Things You'll Need

• Potting mix
• Seeding tray
• Water spray bottle
• Shovel
• Water-soluble fertilizer

Instructions

Seeds

1. Start ornamental kale or cabbage seeds six to 10 weeks before frost is expected to set in. If you live in northern climates, start the process in June. Southern climates should wait until mid-July.

2. Put sterile potting mix in a seeding tray. Disperse ornamental cabbage or kale seeds over the soil surface. Do not cover with soil because the seeds need light to sprout. Water with a spray bottle until the soil is slightly moist.

3. Put the seeds and trays in the refrigerator for one week. They need these cool conditions to germinate.

4. Move the germinated seeds to a cool spot in the house that receives indirect sunlight. Water regularly to keep the soil consistently moist. Transplant them when the sprouts are 4 inches tall.

Transplants

1. Choose transplants that are large in size. They will fill up the garden space more than smaller types.

2. Put the plants in a fertile flower bed or a container filled with potting mix. Dig a hole deep enough for the bottom tier of leaves to touch the soil. Fill in around the roots and press down lightly to remove air pockets.

3. Position the plants so people can take notice of their array of colors. They work well when planted in mass groups, or as edgings. Combine them with fall-blooming perennials.

4. Water the soil to keep it moist but not wet. Touch the soil every two days, and add water whenever if it feels like it's drying out. Ornamental kale and cabbage need consistently moist soil.

5. Apply a water-soluble fertilizer around the base of the plants every month. Follow the directions on the package.

Tips & Warnings

• Consider putting flowering kale and cabbage in a garden with cool-weather perennials.

• Do not use too much fertilizer. It will impede color development.

• Look out for cabbage looper, a green caterpillar that affects kale. The pest ruins the foliage. Check the leaves for holes.

References

• University of Wisconsin Extension Cooperative Extension; Ornamental Cabbage and Kale; Susan Mahr; May 11, 2010
• Walter Reeves: Ornamental Kale/Ornamental Cabbage
• Gardens Ablaze: Ornamental Cabbages and Kale

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish