One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Madera should be reviewed to estimate when you can plant basil.

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 are not cold tolerant it's necessary to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant basil in Madera 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. Any later than that and your basil may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your basil indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on February 15 in Madera. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Madera may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Madera you get a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your basil in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Madera

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Madera

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