Best Kale Varieties for Scotland

Kale is one of the few crops you can pick right through a Scottish winter and into the hungry gap in spring. All the recommended varieties are hardy, so the choice here comes down to height, how much wind your plot gets, and how long each one keeps cropping.

What Scotland means for the choice

Redbor, Reflex, Starbor and Yurok are all rated H5The RHS's H1a–H7 scale for how much cold a plant can survive outdoors, H1a being tender indoor-only and H7 hardy anywhere in the UK. Full definition →, hardy in most of the UK even in severe winters, to between -15°C and -10°C, so cold doesn't separate them. Wind does: a tall kale catches more of it and can work loose at the roots over a winter of gales. Scotland's cooler summers also hold down cabbage aphid and cabbage root fly, and flea beetle needs warm, dry, still weather, which a wet spring knocks back, so pest pressure is often lighter here than further south. The kale growing guide covers sowing, staking and protecting plants.

Redbor, Reflex, Starbor and Yurok hold the RHS Award of Garden Merit (AGMThe RHS's Award of Garden Merit: a UK-wide trials award for reliable performance, not a Scotland-specific recommendation. Full definition →), a UK-wide award rather than a Scottish one. Nero di Toscana doesn't.

Starbor

Starbor is a compact variety for smaller plots, about 40cm tall, low enough to stand up to wind without staking and small enough for a large container. Pick side shoots after the main crownThe base of a perennial plant where roots and shoots meet, often sold and planted as a ready-made dormant plant rather than grown from seed. Full definition → and it keeps going from mid-autumn to late spring.

Reflex and Redbor, the tall ones

Reflex has curled, dark green leaves and can be picked over a long period, from October to February, as baby leaves or mature ones. Redbor has striking purple curled leaves on a tall, sturdy plant. Both reach 0.5–1m, and Redbor needs a sheltered position, so on an open, windy plot choose Starbor or Reflex instead.

Yurok and Nero di Toscana, the Tuscan types

Yurok is an F1The first-generation offspring of two specific, deliberately chosen parent plants, bred for a predictable, uniform result but not worth saving seed from. Full definition →, Tuscan-style kale with narrow, puckered leaves on compact plants, picked from September to February, so you get the cavolo nero look with full H5 hardiness. Nero di Toscana, the classic cavolo nero, has the same narrow, puckered leaves but is rated H4, hardy through most of the UK to between -10°C and -5°C, and doesn't hold the AGM, so give it a sheltered plot.

Which one for your situation

• An exposed or windy plot: Starbor.
• The longest picking season: Starbor, from mid-autumn into late spring.
• Cavolo nero on a cold plot: Yurok.
• Purple leaves, on a sheltered plot: Redbor.
• A container: Starbor.

None of these resists clubroot, so liming and drainage matter whichever you grow. Net against pigeons and watch young plants for slugs and flea beetle in dry spells.

Common questions

Sources