Cabbage can be beautiful

Fall is often the forgotten gardening season in the Inland Northwest. The summer flowers are through showing and are fading away while the vegetable gardens are giving up their last fruits.

But it’s not too late for a little color to carry your garden into the depths of winter.

In fact, there is one group of plants that won’t hit its stride until it does get cold:

Enter the tough and hardy flowering cabbages and kales which get more colorful with cold and can stand up to temperatures that drop into the high teens.

The flowering cabbages and kales are members of the familiar cabbage family we usually associate with cole slaw, sauerkraut and leafy kale. Instead of the big basketball-sized heads we usually think of, flowering cabbages and kales have leafy, loose heads 12-inches or more across.

During the late summer and fall, the center of these flat, leafy, heads turn shades of vivid pink, rose, magenta and white to creamy-yellow. The outer leaves frame this show with their own colors of gray-blue-green to bronze. As the temperatures change in late September and October, the color intensifies.

Many garden centers and nurseries are stocking these plants right now as fully grown plants. Look for full, well-shaped plants in colors you like. Mix and match colors for a spectacular show.

There are several different leaf-forms available in both the cabbages and the kales to add even more interest to the plants. The cabbages usually have large rounded leaves in several colors including the Pigeon series in red, pink and white.

The kales have a fringed or feathered leaf which tends to give them a softer texture. Some of the feathered varieties like Coral Queen and Red Peacock will have intense red or white centers surrounded by blue green leaves.

Both plants are best planted in large pots or beds as mass planting of three to five plants to create a big show. Three plants put in a large pot near a front door won’t leave any doubt where guests are to enter.

Kales and cabbages prefer an organic-rich soil in a sunny location. They need to be kept moist as long as possible into November and December so leave the watering-can out after you turn off the sprinklers. Add a little balanced fertilizer to the planting hole.

It is not uncommon for the plants to be hale and hardy even when the temperatures dip into the teens. This makes them perfect for filling pots and planters that have been cleared of summer plants. If we have a mild winter like last year, the plants may even last into the spring for an added show complimenting the early spring bulbs, violets and pansies.

If you want to try for fall-to-spring color, after it turns cold, mulch the plants with pine needles to protect them from drying winds. Water if it gets dry or the ground thaws out a bit mid-winter. Uncover the plants as soon as the March weather warms a bit.

Because these are biennial plants, they will set seed later next summer. So yank them out in late spring and start over.

The leaves of the flowering cabbage and kales make great indoor floral arrangements or garnishes for fall parties. Simply float some leaves in a large bowl or arrange them with other flowers in a short vase. While not edible (they are a little tough), the leaves can be used as a garnish. Imagine that Thanksgiving turkey resting on a bed of bold pink, green and white leaves.

Kale and cabbages are very easy to grow from seed or starter plants in the spring. Plant either seed or plants in a rich organic but well-drained soil in a place that gets a little shade from the mid-summer afternoon sun. Keep the plants moist throughout the summer. Towards the end of August, you can dig and move some to containers or places in the garden where you want color. As the temperatures drop into the 50s and lower at night, the plants will color.