One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of figuring out when it's possible to plant basil is to use the USDA zone info for Newport Beach.

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 it is necessary to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant basil in Newport Beach 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. If you wait any later than that and 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 January 31 in Newport Beach. It might get as low as 35°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Newport Beach and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Newport Beach it frosts late in the year after January 31 so make sure that you are ready to protect your basil in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Newport Beach

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	35°F
Highest Expected Low	40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in Newport Beach

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Newport Beach.