50 Seeds-Ornamental Kale Flowering  Seeds-Brassica Oleracea- Beautiful and decorative Ornamental Annual- Can Survive through Winter-(FL442)

Ornamental Kale add a splash of color during the fall and early winter. This is one of the few plants that offer color with foliage rather than flowers. Leaves are produced in a tight rosette and can be curly, ruffled or featherlike.

Brassica Oleracea - Ornamental Kale provides beautiful ornamental color from early fall well into winter with frilly green outer leaves and pink, white or purple centers. These cold hardy annuals easily establish from Ornamental Kale seeds, and as the rest of the flowers in the garden are dying down, Brassica Kale is just getting started! It takes the cool weather for Ornamental Kale to start showing their true colors. Light and moderate frosts will intensify the beautiful coloring of Ornamental Kale Brassica plants. If the winter is moderate, it can survive all winter, and in the early spring when temperatures warm, Ornamental Kale will bolt giving yet another attractive look for the landscape.

Ornamental Kale look and grow very much like their close relatives of edible cabbages. Although you could eat them, they have been bred for looks, not flavor. Their leaves have been hybridized to feature purple, rosy, and creamy white colors, making them look more like large flowers than vegetables.

Ornamental Brassica seeds should be planted 6 - 10 weeks before the first anticipated frost. If you sow the flower seeds too early, the warm weather will keep the color from forming in the young plants. You can either plant in starter trays and transplant once the plant is large enough, or sow Ornamental Kale seeds directly outside. Plant the flower seeds 1/8 inch deep, 6 inches between seeds, and 18 - 24 inches between rows if planting directly outside. Keep soil moist during germination. This frost tolerant annual should be grown in full sun in a moist, well-drained soil. Ornamental Brassicas benefit from several applications of a balanced liquid fertilizer during their bloom period. Any Ornamental Brassica plants that don't look the way you want, feel free to eat! While not as tasty as the normal garden kale, the plants are still edible.

Plants with smooth leaf margins are called flowering cabbage, while those with serrated or fringed leaf margins are considered flowering kales. Just like their edible cousins, ornamental cabbage and kale are cool-season annuals. Ornamental cabbage and kale look especially good in a large planting or as edging plants, where their purplish hues blend in well with other fall colors. Or, use them to replace warm-weather annuals in your containers over the winter.

Botanical Name: Brassica oleracea 

Common Names: flowering kale

Plant Type: Annual

Sun Exposure: Full sun, part shade

Soil Type: Moist, well-drained, pH 6.6 - 7.3

Bloom Time: Ornamental leaves in fall through winter

Flower Color: Ornamental leaves in purple, rose, cream

Native Area: Southern and Western Europe

USDA Zones: 2 - 11

Height: 12 - 16 inches

Bloom Season: Fall and winter

Bloom Color: Mix

Environment: Full sun

Temperature: 65 F

Average Germ Time: 7 - 14 days

Light Required: Yes

Depth: 1/8 inch

Sowing Rate: 1 - 2 seeds per plant

Moisture: Keep seeds moist until germination

Plant Spacing: 14 - 16 inches

Starting:

Seed can be started indoors in a soil-less mix 6 weeks early. Sow 12 mm (1/2″) deep and keep the temperature around 20 C (70 F). Grow-on under lights at 14 C (58 F) until transplanting outside in mid to late May. Direct seed outdoors in mid-May to mid-June then thin seedlings to 60 cm (2′) apart when the plants reach 5 cm (2″) in height.