Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of determining when it's a good idea to plant basil is to refer to the USDA zone info for Clovis.

Planting Calendar for Basil

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

Since basil require warm weather you really should wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

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

The last month that you can plant basil and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your basil may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your basil indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Clovis the average date of last frost happens on February 15. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Clovis and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Clovis there is a last frost after February 15 be ready to cover your basil if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Clovis

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Clovis

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