While these plants are listed as flowering cabbage and kale, they are grown for their colorful leaves, not for their flowers. If you remember their classifications and that, like the other plants in the species, they prefer cool weather, a planting of ornamental cabbage or kale will be colorful and satisfying in the home landscape. The ornamental cabbages look much the same as an edible cabbage, while the kales tend to have a more unfolded and fancy or cut leaf. There are two main planting times for ornamental cabbage and kale in the fall. Plants may also be set out in the spring and allowed to grow in place for nearly a year.
Later plantings have several advantages compared to earlier plantings.
The white, pink, or red pigmentations for which the plants are noted do not appear until after several frosts or prolonged cool weather. Planting before frosts also means that you will have to contend with cabbage loopers, whereas after frosts, ornamental cabbages and kales are relatively pest-free. When buying ornamental cabbages or kales, there are several sizes that determine plant quality and value. Just as with any other garden plant, the larger the pot the more you will pay for the product. However, this is one crop in which paying more for a larger plant will usually pay off.