Success with flowering kale and ornamental cabbage

We have had a relatively mild winter so far, but here in Southwest Florida we can have occasional cold snaps that test our landscape plants from time to time.  As a result, we have to be careful what we use in flower beds as annuals.  One really tough and ornamental type of annual suitable to bear our winters is called flowering kale or cabbage – they actually only grow properly in the winter.  Very similar to our normal kale and cabbage, these plants produce colorful leaves that give a flower-like appearance. 

First appearing in seed catalogs in 1936, ornamental cabbage and flowering kale have been a welcome addition to brighten up the winter garden.  While normal garden cabbage makes tight round heads, ornamental cabbage forms a loose head with leaves developing into attractive colorful rosettes.  Leaf colors range from red and green, blue or white and green.  In temperatures below sixty degrees Fahrenheit, the color actually intensifies.   Flowering kale is similar to ornamental cabbage, but has finely-divided, frilly foliage.   Keep in mind that these plants don’t produce flashy flowers, just colorful leaves.  The true flowers of these Cruciferous plants are non-descript and unattractive.

While the ornamental cabbage and flowering kale can be easily started from seed, at this time of year it is just easier to purchase started plants available from many garden centers.  If you try starting these from seed in the future, allow two and one-half to three months from seed to colorful transplant – plan ahead.  Select a full sun area to plant and incorporate three to four inches of organic matter and about two-pounds of a slow-release general purpose granular fertilizer such as a 12-6-6 (or its equivalent) worked into each one-hundred square feet of bed space.  Set the transplants about eighteen inches apart.  After the plants are established use a liquid fertilizer as per label directions once a month.  Ornamental cabbage and flowering kale also do well in pots, hanging baskets, and larger planters.

Selecting your favorite cultivars may take some time as you explore the wide variety available.  Within the realm of ornamental cabbages, look at the various color series such as ‘Tokyo’, ‘Osaka’, and ‘Pigeon’.  Flowering kale is broken down into fringed-leaved cultivars such as ‘Sparrow’, ‘Chidori’, and ‘Kamone’ and the feather-leaved types such as ‘Coral Queen’, ‘Coral Prince’, ‘Red Peacock’ and ‘White Peacock’.   There are even long-stemmed types grown to be used as cut flowers such as ‘Sunrise’, ‘Sunset’ and ‘Crane’.

If you have not seen ornamental cabbage or kale, check out local garden centers or grow your own next year.  They take the cold and bring color to your flower beds.  For more information on colorful annuals, please call our Master Gardener volunteers on the Plant Lifeline on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 1 to 4 pm at 764-4340 for gardening help and insight into their role as an Extension volunteer.  Don't forget to visit our other County Plant Clinics in the area.  Please check this link for a complete list of site locations, dates and times - http://charlotte.ifas.ufl.edu/horticulture/Plant%20Clinics%20Schedule.pdf.     Did you know that we are celebrating 100 Years of Extension in 2014?   The Smith-Lever Act of 1914 established the Cooperative Extension Service, which allows us all to benefit from the knowledge of our land-grant universities. Extension has helped millions of Floridians by tapping the latest information from the research engines of the University of Florida and Florida A&M University and converting it into practical knowledge we use every day.   In 2014, in Florida and across the nation, we celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Smith-Lever Act by looking back on Extension’s record of service and educational outreach and by looking forward to the many challenges facing us over the next 100 years.

Resources: 

Gilman, E. F. (2011) Brassica oleracea Flowering Kale, Ornamental Cabbage. The University of Florida Extension Service, IFAS.

Gilman, E. F. (2011) Brassica oleracea ‘White Peacock’ White Peacock Flowering Kale.  The University of Florida Extension Service, IFAS.

Winter, N. (2007) Expanding winter selections by planting cabbage, kale.  Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center, MSU.

Smith, T. (2004) Greenhouse Crops and Floriculture – Flowering Cabbage and Kale.  The University of Massachusetts Extension Service.

Klingaman, G. (2000) Plant of the Week: Ornamental Kale, Flowering Cabbage.  University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service.