The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of getting a good idea when it's a good idea to plant basil is to look at the USDA zone info for Bay Minette.

Planting Calendar for Basil

Frost tolerance for basil:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Basil require warm weather which tells us that you must wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant basil in Bay Minette is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant basil and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your basil may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your basil indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in Bay Minette. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Bay Minette and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Bay Minette last frost occurs after March 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your basil if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Bay Minette

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Bay Minette

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Bay Minette.