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Project Noah Nature School
Brassica olercea
Our kale plant is a couple of years old. The leaves are very large and blue in color.
The kale plant is located in our school garden in partial shade.
This is the plant one of the 5th-grade groups at Glenn O Swings has chosen for their observations (The Gold Flies). Here are their questions: 1. Why are the leaves blue? 2. What kind of insects eat the leaves? 3. When will it grow flowers?
Spotted on Jul 7, 2021
Submitted on Jul 9, 2021
1 Comment
This is so cool! Kale plants are full of chlorophyll a chemical compound that reflects the sunlight and feeds the plant. Very few plants have blue leaves, most are green, so this kale plant is pretty special. Did you see any insects on your kale plant? Beetles love them, and so do caterpillars. That's what makes them a great food source for pollinators.
Kale plants flower in the late fall. They will shoot up a long stalk in the middle of the plant and get yellow flowers. Those flowers will be a great pollen and nectar source for bumblebees and wasps and butterflies in the fall.