Modern, Affordable Home Accessories & Modern Decor: Decorative Kale

Wednesday, July 8, 2020

Decorative Kale

Grow ornamental kale in full sun about 10 to 14 inches apart in rich organic soil. In this article we will discuss how to harvest kale seeds so you can plant another crop.

File Ornamental Kale Jpg Wikimedia Commons

Once night temperatures stay at or below 50 degrees count on flowering kale to brighten your vegetable garden flower bed or container after about two to four weeks.

Decorative kale. Growing flowering kale can be done by starting seeds or with started plants purchased from the store. Unlike many common garden vegetables kale plants are actually biennials. Noted for its use in the kitchen kale is an easy to grow leafy green that thrives in cooler temperatures.

Although the leaves can be eaten theyre really only good for garnish or as a base for such dishes as egg salad or hors doeuvres. Ornamental cabbage and kale should be planted in a sunny location in a moderately moist rich soil. Their leaves have been hybridized to feature purple rosy and creamy white colors making them look more like large flowers than vegetables.

Whether youre using it in a garden bed or in container gardening its a great complement to other fall plants like chrysanthemums ornamental peppers and violas. Sometimes called ornamental cabbage and kale these bold rosettes nearly steal the autumn show from brightly colored chrysanthemums and pansies. For most of the twentieth century kale was primarily used in the united states for decorative purposes.

The color is all in their extravagantly ruffled and feathered leaves. Bring them into your garden individually or make a statement with mass plantings. At the time kale was widely grown in croatia mostly because it was easy to grow and inexpensive and could desalinate soil.

Growing kale and ornamental cabbage from seed. One of my favorite ways to utilize ornamental kale in designs is to plant it in clusters of threes. The intensely colorful pigmentations that kale plants are known for do not appear until after prolonged cool weather and a few frosts.

The growing information for both ornamental kale and cabbage is the same. It became more popular as an edible vegetable in the 1990s due to its nutritional value. Plant ornamental kale so that the base foliage is at ground level planting the stems and root balls deeper.

This is an ornamental plant. The soil needs to be well drained and nutrient rich high in organic matter. Its hard to beat flowering cabbage and kale for outright drama in the fall garden.

How to grow ornamental kale. They both need to be planted in an area that receives full sun and should be spaced about 18 24 inches apart depending on the type you are planting. Ornamental kale plants are best used as an annual in spring and fall gardens and in container gardens.

Ornamental cabbage and kale look and grow very much like their close relatives of edible cabbages and kalealthough you could eat them they have been bred for looks not flavor. Ornamental kale is a great landscape plant as well as a container plant.

Ornamental Kale Images Stock Photos Vectors Shutterstock