How to Make a Living Kale Wreath: Autumn Color for Your Door

Ornamental kale (flowering kale) rivals fall foliage with bright colors and ruffled, fringed, or scalloped rosettes. Edible but less tasty than Brassica oleracea cousins (kale, cabbage, collards).

For autumn wreaths, buy seedlings late summer/early fall, or start from seed 10 weeks before first frost for cost savings. Mix varieties for contrasting colors. Transplant into living wreath form before root balls outgrow wire openings. Plants reach 8–12" diameter but stay smaller in wreath frame.

Hang in partial to full sun. Water weekly by taking down, soaking base, draining, rehanging. Use as centerpiece too. End of season: remove plants, save base for pansies/violas in late winter/early spring.

Materials

• 14" diameter living wreath form with lid
• Scissors, sphagnum moss cloth
• Ornamental kale seedlings
• Moisture-holding potting mix (with water-holding polymer crystals)
• Florist's wire, wire cutters

5-Step Assembly

1. Remove lid. Cut moss cloth into 6×18" strips. Line form moss-side out, overlapping ends.

2. Moisten root balls and potting mix. Fill moss-lined form, mounding soil. Fold moss edges over soil. Add moss pieces as needed.

3. Reattach lid. If no lid, wrap florist's wire around moss/frame to secure.

4. Cut one opening at a time in moss for each root ball. Remove plant from pot, compress root ball, tuck into opening. Push into soil. Fill gaps with soil/moss.

5. Plant face clockwise, staggering plants, then perimeter. Leave growing room — they'll fill gaps in weeks.