Flowering kale, also called flowering cabbage, is an ornamental plant that sports some vividly colorful, richly textured fall foliage from late summer through early winter.
Its popularity has been steadily increasing over the past few years, and I think it has something to do with just being different.
It can be bought as a plant and is typically sold along with the fall mums. You can also grow it yourself from seed sown in the spring. Either way, it’s a unique addition to the garden.
Warm-season crops — like tomatoes, peppers, squash and cucumbers — prefer to be planted and grown during the warmer growing season months. Flowering kale, like its cousin edible kale or kindred cabbage, is a cool-season crop that not only prefers but outdoes itself when the weather “heads north.”
The plant itself maxes out in height somewhere around 12 to 18 inches, possibly more. A quick look and you might think someone took a machete and cut the top half off, because it resembles half a cabbage. The compressed inner leaves provide the color, while the outer leaves of the head swirl looser and looser, creating a rather wide rosette. I’ve seen some measure an easy 24 inches in width, making a stately and showy plant.
No preening or pruning is required after planting. All you need to do is sit back and watch. Those inner leaves come in rich shades of pink, purple, creamy white and pure white. The outer leaves are often crinkled for an added effect and come in hues of green to blue-green, so when you look down at the plant, you’ll see a brilliantly colored center surrounded by a contrasting swirl.
If you think it’s stunning when you buy it, just wait until after the first frost. Remember, it’s a cool-season crop, and a chilling dip in temperature is the frosting on the kale! It requires sun to partial sun and well-drained soil (it doesn’t like soggy feet), but it does enjoy soil that doesn’t dry out on moisture either. Keep in mind that it’s a wide bear, so to get the most bang for your buck, don’t crowd these plants. Give them a good 24 inches between each other, so you can enjoy the entire effect.
The only two nemeses it tends to have are aphids and slugs. Aphids can be controlled as you do with any other plant. If you keep the lowest leaves off the ground so the air can circulate, slugs won’t be able to crawl onto them. Another option is to mulch with rough bark around the kale; slugs like to slither, and they find rough surfaces unacceptable for slithering.
This is a long-lasting annual, one that doesn’t mind if you dig it up before the ground freezes, pot it and bring it indoors to use as Thanksgiving or Christmas decor.
It’s best to bring it in at the last minute to decorate, then put it back outdoors in a bright spot until it’s needed again. Keep its temperature preference in mind when in the garden, and you’ll realize that an extended blast of heat is not its cup of tea. Its colors tend to fade in warm temperatures.
To make life even easier, I’ve just taken the kale when I’ve bought it and repotted it in a larger pot, then brought it indoors for decoration as needed. No digging is required, and the extra root space is a bonus. Just remember to keep it well-watered.
Because it’s in a pot and not the ground, and because it has huge leaves, it’ll tend to dry out quicker. Those are good reasons to move it up a pot size or two if keeping it potted, rather than transplanting it. Once it wilts, it has a tough time recovering.
Flowering kale does an awesome job around the mailbox, as well as in the landscape, flower garden, planters and window boxes. Imagine looking out the dining room window on Thanksgiving at a window box packed with color. Enjoy!
Nancy O’Donnell owns Perennial Graphics Nursery in Schaghticoke, N.Y. E-mail her at dodonnell@nycap.rr.com.
