Ornamental Cabbage or Kale

[hermang]

When we were at the McKinley Village - there was what appeared to be a planting of Ornamental Cabbages which I found out later to be called Kale or Ornamental Kale. I got some great pictures of this very colorful "bedding plant"

 

Questions for Murray or anyone else:

 

Are these edible?

 

Can they be grown in New England and if so - do they start from seed or plants?

 

Are they annuals or perennials??

 

Thanks

[Yukon]

They're annuals that we usually start from seeds, and they aren't particularly edible (they aren't poisonous, but neither are they tasty - though some people think they are). Pretty and very long-lasting, though, and most Northern gardens have them. I would think that the New England climate would be friendly to them.

 

Murray

[hermang]

They're annuals that we usually start from seeds, and they aren't particularly edible (they aren't poisonous, but neither are they tasty - though some people think they are). Pretty and very long-lasting, though, and most Northern gardens have them. I would think that the New England climate would be friendly to them.

 

Murray

Most off the kale they sell here seems to be the leafy variety as opposed to the "head" type. I don't care if they are edible - but they do make a nice looking bedding plant.

 

Do you start them in the spring

[Yukon]

It's probably just kale they sell in your area as opposed to Flowering Kale, which is what you saw here. I found a good planting guide at http://www.humeseeds.com/effkale.htm If you just type "Flowering Kale" (with the quotation marks) into Google you'll get lots of information on the best varieties, too.

 

Murray

[hermang]

It's probably just kale they sell in your area as opposed to Flowering Kale, which is what you saw here. I found a good planting guide at http://www.humeseeds.com/effkale.htm If you just type "Flowering Kale" (with the quotation marks) into Google you'll get lots of information on the best varieties, too.

 

Murray

That's exactly what I am looking for - thanks

[hermang]

It's probably just kale they sell in your area as opposed to Flowering Kale, which is what you saw here. I found a good planting guide at http://www.humeseeds.com/effkale.htm If you just type "Flowering Kale" (with the quotation marks) into Google you'll get lots of information on the best varieties, too.

 

Murray

For some strange reason, our local Stop and Shop ( major Supermarket chain)

is selling as part off their fall plants some very nice size ready to plant "flowering kale" at $4.00 a piece. Granted it would be cheaper to grow them from seed ( which I'll try this coming spring) but I figured I would give these a shot. No where as large as the plants we saw at McKinley Village. These were maybe 6-8" in diameter. 2 purple and a Nagoya White.

 

I assume these will be around til the first frost???

 

Then what - do we pull them out or will they come back next year???

[Yukon]

They actually last through much of the winter - it takes a very deep cold to kill them. The reason they're so large here isn't the variety so much as the nearly 24 hour light. I'd leave them in and see what happens - in a milder climate they may last a very long time.

 

Murray

[hermang]

They actually last through much of the winter - it takes a very deep cold to kill them. The reason they're so large here isn't the variety so much as the nearly 24 hour light. I'd leave them in and see what happens - in a milder climate they may last a very long time.

 

Murray

Interesting - It doesn't get all that cold here til maybe February.

We got quite a bit of rain today so that they are well watered and look good -

Again thanks or all the good info

[Allis154]

I grew these from seeds in my garden a few years ago. Made a big hit with everybody who saw them. The last well past Christmas the year I planted them, but we didn't have much snow that year. They didn't come back the next year.