Plant Library

Other Names:  Ornamental Kale, Flowering Kale

Description:

Producing beautiful dense rosettes of deep green and burgundy, this ornamental kale is perfect for gardens or containers; performs well in cooler conditions; leaves edible but are bitter to taste; this super food is great for stews, soups and kale chips

Edible Qualities

Chidori Red Kale is an annual vegetable plant that is typically grown for its edible qualities. The crinkled round green leaves with showy burgundy variegation and tinges of bluish-green can be harvested at any time in the season. The leaves have a bitter taste.

The leaves are most often used in the following ways:

• Fresh Eating
• Eating When Cooked/Prepared
• Cooking

Planting & Growing

Chidori Red Kale will grow to be about 14 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 14 inches. When planted in rows, individual plants should be spaced approximately 14 inches apart. This fast-growing vegetable plant is an annual, which means that it will grow for one season in your garden and then die after producing a crop.

This plant is typically grown in a designated vegetable garden. It should only be grown in full sunlight. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in rich soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone over the growing season to conserve soil moisture. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America.

Chidori Red Kale is a good choice for the vegetable garden, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. It is often used as a 'filler' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination, providing a canvas of foliage against which the thriller plants stand out. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.