One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to figure out when it's the best time to plant basil by referring to the USDA zone info for Texarkana.

Planting Calendar for Basil

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

Since basil require warm weather you really should wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant basil in Texarkana 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your basil may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your basil indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Texarkana. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Texarkana is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Texarkana there is a last frost after March 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your basil in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Texarkana

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Texarkana

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