Longfellow's Greenhouses Online Plant Guide

Other Names:  Emperor Red

Brand:  Ball

Description:

This variety produces dense rosettes of sea green outer foliage with deep red centers; mainly used as ornamental, the leaves can be eaten but are bitter to taste; can be used in soups and stews or made into kale chips; performs well in cooler conditions

Ornamental Features

Nagoya Red Ornamental Kale is primarily valued in the garden for its ornamental globe-shaped form. Its attractive crinkled round leaves remain bluish-green in color with showy burgundy variegation throughout the season.

Landscape Attributes

Nagoya Red Ornamental Kale is a dense herbaceous annual with a more or less rounded form. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition.

This plant will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and should not require much pruning, except when necessary, such as to remove dieback. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Nagoya Red Ornamental Kale is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• Rock/Alpine Gardens
• Border Edging
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Nagoya Red Ornamental Kale will grow to be about 12 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 14 inches. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 12 inches apart. This fast-growing annual will normally live for one full growing season, needing replacement the following year.

This plant 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.

Nagoya Red Ornamental Kale is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting 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.