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

In Placerville you can figure out when it's the best time to plant basil by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Basil

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

It's not a good idea to plant basil until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant basil in Placerville 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your basil may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your basil indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Placerville. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Placerville is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Placerville last frost occurs after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your basil in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Placerville

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 Placerville

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