One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Dardanelle you can estimate when to plant basil by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Basil

Frost tolerance for basil:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

You can not plant basil until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant basil in Dardanelle 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 really do well. If you are starting your basil indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Dardanelle the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as 5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Dardanelle is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Dardanelle last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your basil if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Dardanelle

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Dardanelle

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Dardanelle.