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.

The USDA zone info for Mountain View should be reffered to in order to determine when it's the best time to plant basil.

Planting Calendar for Basil

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

Basil require warm weather which tells us that you need to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant basil in Mountain View is February. However, you really should wait until March 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your basil may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your basil indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Mountain View. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 30°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Mountain View is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Mountain View there is a last frost after January 31 so just be sure to be ready to cover your basil in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Mountain View

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Mountain View

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Mountain View.