Ornamental Kale (Decorative Kale, Wild Cabbage)
Brassica oleracea. BRASSICACEAE (CRUCIFERAE).
Planting and Growing Ornamental Kale
You’ll find everything you need to know to plant and grow ornamental kale in the accompanying table’s tabs:
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- Flowers, foliage, and root structure of ornamental kale
- Plant hardiness and growing conditions for ornamental kale
- Season of bloom and planting time for ornamental kale
- When, how deep, and where to plant ornamental kale
- How to plant ornamental kale
- Watering, fertilizing, care, and pests or diseases of ornamental kale
- Landscape and container uses of ornamental kale
- Comments about ornamental kale and its features
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Before and After
Growing Ornamental Kale
Many hybrids of low, open annual herbs, to 20 in. (50 cm) wide. Shiny or waxy, cream, green, pink, purple, red, yellow, edible leaves, to 1 ft. (30 cm) long, form wavy rosettes, sometimes with contrasting fringes or feathered edges. Best color after frost in cool seasons.
Common cultivars include Brassica oleracea ‘Dynasty Pink’ and ‘Tokyo’.
Planting and Care Guide
Blooms
Many tiny, cream, green, white, yellow, 4-petaled flowers, in erect, feathery plumes, in summer–autumn.
Best Climates
Self-seeding, zones 2–10. Frost hardy.
Soil Type and Fertility
Moist, well-drained, sandy loam. Fertility: Rich–average. 6.5–7.5 pH.
Where and How to Plant
Spring in full sun, 1–2 ft. (30–60 cm) apart, after frost hazard has passed. Start seed indoors 8–10 weeks before final frost for early blooms; transplant when soil becomes workable.
Proper Care
Easy. Keep evenly moist. Fertilize monthly. Protect from heat to avoid bolting, zones 9–11. Propagate by seed.
About This Plant
Good choice for accents, borders, containers, edgings in formal, small-space gardens. Good for geometric pattern plantings. Larva and caterpillar susceptible.