Ornamental Kale – Looks Good Enough To Eat!

Winter is here and the weather has moved from beautiful sunny Autumn days to cold and miserable.  Luckily there are plenty of beautiful flowers that flourish in Winter and Ornamental Kale is one of them.

Although it is also known as “Flowering Cabbage” they are not flowers at all.  The ruffled florets are actually leaves, intricately layered around a fleshy stem creating a rosette.

Members of the  Brassica oleracea  family, Ornamental Kale is a cousin to cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts and kohlrabi.  While Ornamental Kale nutrient dense (full of dietary fibre, Vitamins A, C, K, and B6, iron, magnesium, and calcium) they really are just ornamental.  Stick with the regular stuff from the fruit shop for your super food smoothies!

I’m sure some of you have had these flowers in your homes before and I know what you’re thinking. They stink!  Like their other Brassica relatives, they can give off that ‘cabbagy ‘ smell.  The good news is, it’s relatively easy to keep this stink under control.  Most often it is the water the flowers are sitting in that becomes smelly so if you wash your vase and change the water everyday, you won’t get that yucky smell. How easy is that?  And if you trim the stems a little bit each time, your flowers will last longer too.  Bonus!

Ornamental Kale comes in a smorgasbord of colors, ranging from white, pink and mauve through to deep green and black.  And with a long vase life of around 7-10 days there is sure to be one that fits in with your home decor.

Want some? You know you do!  Get in touch  and I’ll have some delivered straight to your door. Don’t be put off by the stinky rumors about this gorgeous ‘flower’.  A little bit of daily vase maintenance and you can enjoy these seasonal beauties for weeks.