Everything You Need To Know About Michigan Tree Collards

In this video, you will learn everything you need to know about Michigan Tree Collards. You will get to see what they look like planted in the garden and to hear about its growth habit and what you can expect. This video will help you understand whether a Michigan Tree Collard is a good plant for your garden, how much space it needs, how to plant it, and where to plant it.

Ken Asmus of Oikos Tree Crops in Michigan purchased seeds of Purple Tree Collards from Project Tree Collard. Five years later, after much observation and selection of his seedlings, he shared clones of “Michigan Tree Collard” with Project Tree Collard. His Michigan Tree Collard plants have been outdoors for the last 5 years in USDA zone 5-6, and have survived temperatures to 0 F. Michigan Tree Collard is a beautiful and vigorous, silver-green tree collard that has purple hues on the stems, especially in the cool season. Flavor is similar to other tree collard plants.

Ken also shared that this plant may be tolerant of even colder winter temperatures than zero, and even if it appears to have died above ground, it re sprouts from below the soil line once the growing season resumes. Some have hardy enough stems to stay green and sprout slightly above the ground.

In Michigan, Ken’s Michigan Tree Collards grow up to 6 feet tall, and if given fertile, well-drained soil with regular water can reach 3-4 feet high in one year. Our California plants are 2 1/2 years old, which is too young to determine a mature height. So far, they easily reach 4 feet. Leaves can get up to 1 foot long (especially in part shade) and are a silvery blue-green color with blushing purple stems in the cool season.

Since this is a newly available plant for gardeners, we are unsure how it performs in warm, tropical climates such as Florida and Hawaii. In the last year it has thrived in the SF Bay Area in zone 10A, and Grass Valley, CA in zone 9A. They are not phased by 113 degree summer heat waves in California.

In windy areas, Michigan Tree Collards are best tied to a sturdy metal or wooden stake as it can be semi-fragile in wet conditions and high winds.

Tree collards (Brassica oleracea var. acephala) are members of the brassica family. They are also known as Tree Kale or Tree Cabbage. Their relatives include traditional collards, kale, broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, and cauliflower. However, unlike most of its relatives, tree collards are perennial. This means that, like a fruit tree or rose bush, they will continue to grow and produce year after year and without the need for planting new seeds or seedlings every year like traditional collards and kale. Tree collards are hardy to about 20° F (-7° c) and in mild climates have been known to live for up to twenty years! They are closely related to other perennial collard varieties grown in Mediterranean, Africa, the Americas, and other countries.

You can find Project Tree Collard at: www.projecttreecollard.org
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Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/ProjectTreeCollard