Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. 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 Estes Park can be reffered to in order to estimate when it's possible 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.

It's probably a bad idea to plant basil until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

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

The last month that you can plant basil and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your basil may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your basil indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Estes Park. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Estes Park is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Estes Park there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your basil in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Estes Park

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°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 -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Estes Park

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Estes Park.