That is a beautiful combo tj! So impressive.

Didn't know that blooming Kale can look so nice!

Our coldest part of the winter came after we had two feet of snow so mine were kept toasty.

==>>> i dont know about toasty .. lol .. but surely insulated from the extremes of winter ...

i also used to lay stalks of seed pods where i wanted future plants ... lets see.. i did that with portulaca in fall ... columbine .. not the foo foo ones... myosotis ... forget me not ... pansy .. etc ... the beauty of it.. was the dead stalks/plants gave me a clue of what seedlings to look for the next spring.. after the snow melted ...

ken

Ha! I thought you were going to say Russian sage -- I didn't even know there was such as thing as Russian kale. Sure is pretty!

Yay - now you can save seeds 🙂

I am similar. One of the lovely things about it is that if I let it go to seed, I have red russian kale selfsown until the next time it manages to overwinter. So this year I only had about a half dozen volunteers, but since I had two plants overwinter that are now going to seed, I will have more in coming years. I love this kale!

Have you tried eating it?

I have not eaten the ones that go to seed as I have enough volunteers plus ones I’ve planted.

tj

I use the flowers in salads but the stems are very fibrous. The leaves aren't too bad but can be tough. They always overwinter in my climate.

I’m in the process of learning to like Swiss Chard, which isn‘t going well, but I’m always curios to learn how others rate veggies and greens. I think the key is to eat them when young & tender. Now that I think about it, deer also seem to take this approach.

Red Russian is tender and delicious if eaten before it bolts. I was referring to the eating qualities in its second year after it’s run to flower.

I'd say red russian survives the winter for me about 1/3 of the time here in MN. So does one of the curly ones. I do deadhead now when it does as I regretted letting it go to seed the first time.

That is spectacular! A most impressive veggie:).

I haven't had any to winter over for awhile but I have some growing this year.

I allow my Cilantro to go to seed and right now it is in full flower, a 4ftx4ft patch covered with bees. And that is all volunteer plants from the last time I let it go to seed. I love that! And so do the bees.

I’ll eat young leaves in salads and on sandwiches. The older leaves sweeten up after 4-5 frosts and is steamed like spinach or used in soups. The plant produces sugar as an antifreeze which is why store bought kale lacks the tastiness I get from mine. Even limp plants hit by freezes will plump back up after a day or two in the 40s.

tj

BTW- Because the large blue-green foliage goes well with other plants, I also plant it among other things like conifers and annuals. No conifer pix but here it is with zinnias a few years ago.

tj

Perennial kale. Now there's a revelation!

This has proven quite hardy for me here in MN.

Tsuga’s Red Russian kale isn't perennial. It’s biennial and is flowering in its second year as it is genetically programmed to do. This is its normal, natural behaviour. It’s the dying in the winter which is against its nature, not the survival.

Yum! One of my favorite greens. Delicious just cooked "like spinach," ie sauted with onions or garlic or one herb such as dill. Also delicious as salad. The stems are often tender and good to eat but it depends on the age.