Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant basil is to consult the USDA zone info for Florence.

Planting Calendar for Basil

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

Basil do not do well in cold weather which means that you must wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant basil in Florence 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. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your basil indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Florence. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Florence and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Florence there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your basil if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Florence

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 Florence

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