How to Plant, Grow, and Care for ‘Crane Red’ Ornamental Kale

As the days get shorter and the temperature gets colder, most popular cut flower species, such as zinnias, salvias, and cosmos, begin to suffer. Your beautiful sunflower heads are probably drooping, if they haven’t already been stolen by squirrels. This time of year can be a total bummer if you’ve been enjoying fresh cut flowers all summer.

Enter ornamental kale. Specifically, ‘Crane Red,’ a vertical cultivar that has smooth, blue-green outer leaves. As this brassica gets taller and its bottom leaves die off, it begins to mature into a rose-like shape, with a distinct stem and rosette at the top. The center of the “rose” turns bright pink when it gets cold.

What Is It?

‘Crane Red’ kale is an ornamental cultivar that is known for its role as a fun and unique addition to autumn bouquets. This tall kale was bred for cut flower arrangements, adding a bright pop of pink with classic blue-green outer leaves.

As the temperatures cool down, the colors of ‘Crane Red’ intensify. So, while your zinnias and other cut-flower classics are on their last legs, you’ll still have a fresh, bold option to harvest for a fall centerpiece.

Characteristics

‘Crane Red’ is a low-maintenance plant that will extend your “flower” season well into winter. It complements any garden, both ornamental and veggie. Note that while this brassica will look right at home in your vegetable garden, you shouldn’t eat it. Technically, it’s edible, but it won’t taste good. 

Most kales are biennial, focusing all their energy on vegetative growth in their first year and on flowers in the second, though they’re usually grown as annuals. This is also the case for this popular ornamental. Once the ground freezes, it will stop growing. Don’t plant it now with the assumption that it will look the same next year, even if it survives winter. 

Native Area

Kale as a vegetable has its origins in the Mediterranean region and what is now Turkey. These regions broadly have temperate climates, with hot, dry summers, mild, wet winters, and moderate precipitation.

Farmers have cultivated and bred kale for thousands of years, resulting in the subspecies and varieties we know today. You can now grow them in USDA hardiness zones 2 through 11, especially as annuals.

Ornamental kales were hybridized in Japan. The U.S. The Department of Agriculture sent a horticulturalist to Japan in 1929 on the hunt for new and noteworthy plants. Ornamental kale first appeared in American seed catalogs in the 1930s.

Planting

The best time to transplant an ornamental kale is in late summer or early fall. You’re likely to see young plants at the nursery near the mums and other fall staples. However, you can grow ‘Crane Red’ in spring, too. This cool-weather ornamental thrives in the cool temperatures of both early spring and fall.

You can plant it directly in the ground, and it also makes an excellent addition to container arrangements. Consider that these plants may reach up to three feet in height, so you may want to plant them with a trellis or some other form of support.

Since they can survive frost, they won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. They may ultimately become taller than nearby plants. In a garden or raised bed, this could shade out neighbors. In a container, this makes ‘Crane Red’ a good choice for your “thriller.”

Transplanting

To transplant young plants either in the ground or in a planter, dig a hole that’s a bit larger than the plant’s root ball. Then, place the root ball inside the hole, and backfill with soil. Water in the plant well.

For the first week or so, keep it well-watered, giving it a chance to really establish roots. These plants are fairly hardy and should adapt quickly.

Growing from Seed

For spring planting, start ‘Crane Red’ seeds indoors a couple of months before the last frost. The seeds germinate better at warmer temperatures (60-65°F or 16-18°C), while they grow best at cooler temperatures. Warm, indoor conditions will help them sprout, and then you can transplant outdoors. 

Fill seed starting trays with a good-quality seed starting mix. Submerge the small seeds about ¼ inch deep into the mix. Keep the mix moist until germination occurs, and then move the seedlings into the sunlight. Transplant once they begin to outgrow the trays.

If you’d like to start this ornamental from seed with the intent to grow the plants in fall, you can simply direct sow the seeds in late summer (about three months before your first first) in their intended growing location. The outdoor climate at this time should be ideal for germination.

You can still start seeds in trays for fall planting, but direct sowing them outdoors will allow you to skip the transplanting step.

How to Grow

‘Crane Red’ is a low-maintenance brassica, just like most kales. Once you get it established in the right spot and in the right soil, there’s not much you need to do. Fertilizing and pruning is mostly optional.

Light

Choose a location that receives full sun exposure. This translates to at least six hours of direct sunlight per day. Keep in mind that the days will continue to get shorter in fall, and plant accordingly. Without enough light, this ornamental may not develop its intended color.

Water

This plant has moderate water needs. Plan to give these plants about one inch of water per week, including precipitation. Kale is somewhat drought-tolerant. It won’t suffer too much if the soil dries out from time to time, but it will perform much better when consistently watered.

Soil

Plant in moist but well-draining soil. You don’t want the soil to dry out quickly, but you also don’t want it to retain too much water, which can lead to root rot. Soil needs are the same whether you’re growing in the ground or in containers. 

Autumn can bring gloomy days with it. ‘Crane Red’ may experience many cloudy, rainy days in a row in fall, which is why it will need well-draining soil to avoid rot. You can amend soil with perlite to improve its drainage if needed.

Temperature and Humidity

These ornamentals thrive in cool conditions, when the temperature is somewhere in the 60 to 70°F (6-21°C) range. They really shine when the temperatures drop further, around 50 degrees and below. At this point, the signature color fade of ‘Crane Red’ starts to appear. 

While you can absolutely grow it in spring, this decrease in seasonal temperature is what makes it so well-suited to growing in fall. You don’t need to take any steps to protect these plants as it gets colder. They will survive through frosts and produce intense color.

As the temperature continues to drop, this kale will continue to grow until the ground freezes. You can try mulching around the plant to delay the freeze just slightly. 

These plants prefer the average humidity levels that typically accompany fall weather. If you live in a particularly humid area, you may want to space these plants out to provide better air circulation, which can mitigate the spread of disease.

Fertilizing

Because ‘Crane Red’ plants are usually only grown for one season, fertilizer isn’t a great concern. Start these plants in nutrient-rich soil, whether that be garden soil amended with compost or a fertilizer-enriched potting mix in containers.

You can apply a little bit more fertilizer every few weeks if you wish, but it’s not necessary. Once they start putting out their pink color, skip fertilizing entirely.

Maintenance

These plants require very little maintenance. There is no need to prune them. If the oldest outer leaves are damaged, you can remove them with clean pruners. As these ornamentals grow taller, you may want to pluck the lower leaves to create a “rose” shape for bouquets. 

Propagation

Beyond starting from seed, the best way to propagate this brassica is through cuttings. You may want to take cuttings of your plant or a friend’s plant to expand your fall collection, especially if you have a long growing season.

Cuttings

Using a clean, sharp knife or pruners, take a top cut from a tall, healthy plant with lots of leaves. Make your cut at a 45-degree angle. Remove leaves from the bottom half of your new cutting. Allow the cutting to sit and heal for a day or so until the wounds callous over.

Optionally, you can apply rooting hormone to the bottom of the cutting. This may help the plant produce more robust roots, but it’s not required. Prepare a pot with moist potting soil, or choose a spot in the garden where you want to plant the cutting, and moisten the soil there.

Plant your cutting in the prepared pot or in the ground. Keep the soil moist for the next week or so, until you can tell that the plant has rooted. Then, you can treat the new ornamental kale as a regular plant.

The host plant from which you removed the cutting will bounce back. It will put out at least one new “head’ of growth, though it may branch out and produce even more.

Popular Varieties

‘Crane Red’ is one of many ornamental kale varieties, also known as “flowering kale.” If you love the idea of growing foliage plants that offer visual interest well into winter, consider these cultivars.

‘Peacock White’

Unlike many other cultivars that have a tight, cabbage-like head, ‘Peacock White’ is more loose and ruffled, forming a nice rosette shape. This plant reaches about one foot in height, so it’s perfect for filling in container spots. It gets the “white” in its name for the bright white leaves at the center that emerge once it gets cold. The white and green contrast make this a festive option for planters going into the holidays.

‘Nagoya Red’

This cultivar is another option with pinkish purple leaves in the center that fade out to dark green, somewhat similar to ‘Care Red’, though it has ruffled edges. This ornamental isn’t a vertical type, reaching about one foot in height. It adds rich color to autumn arrangements and only gets more colorful as the season progresses.

‘Redbor’

‘Redbor’ is a gorgeous cultivar that looks more similar to the kale you’d grow in the veggie garden when it comes to its shape, but not its color. It has long, ruffled leaves, not in a tight rosette shape, with deep, red veins. As it gets colder, the leaves get more red. ‘Redbor’ is one of the prettiest kales that also tastes delicious.

Common Problems

‘Crane Red’ kale doesn’t suffer from a lot of problems. They thrive easily without much maintenance, and since they’re grown as annuals, there’s not a lot of time for problems to really accumulate. There are a handful of pests and potential diseases that may take root.

Insecticidal soap can treat multiple common pests, drip irrigation or watering near the base of plants can prevent multiple common diseases, and crop rotation can minimize both pests and disease.

Pests

Diseases