Ornamental Kale (Brassica oleracea 'Acephala')



This is the time the ornamental kale at its peak. I have a few ornamental kale started from a six-pack in the spring of 2005. Now they are about 4 feet tall. The colorful leaves are a kaleidoscope of purple, pink, and green or green yellow and white. They look like huge rose blossoms, but last a lot longer. They are also easy to propagate. Just cut a branch off from the plant and stick it to the ground when it is warm and it will root and grow right away. They also last a long time as cut flowers since they are actually colored leaves. Sometimes, the stem will even sprout roots in the vase. The rooted stem can then be planted in the ground.

Ornamental kale is a perennial here in San Diego. It will flower in the early spring. The flowers are actually quite attractive. They are typical Brassia flowers, however, the color is a bright yellow and flower shoot is quite long with numerous 4-petal flowers. I have seen gardens beds with flower ornamental kales that were quite beautiful.


Ornamental kale is not too hard to take care. It likes sunny location, but will tolerate some shade. I have not seen any disease so far. However, it tends to attract a huge number of aphids in the early spring. The tender tips are covered with a thick layer black or yellows aphids. A few spray of soap water usually takes care of the aphids. In the summer, the caterpillars (cabbage worms) are a huge problem. Vigilant use of BT will take care of the caterpillars.

Comments

Tira said…
Wow, I like your blog as there aren’t many good tropical/subtropical garden blogs, and I garden in a small Caribbean island. I also have mangoes and plumeria, and grew up with many of the fruits, guavas, wax jambu etc. in my parents garden. I also recently started my blog at: http://caribbeangarden.blogspot.com/
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