One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

The first opportunity to plant basil in Bartow should be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Basil

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

Basil are not cold tolerant which means that you must wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant basil in Bartow 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. Starting your basil indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on February 15 in Bartow. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Bartow may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Bartow you get a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your basil if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Bartow

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Bartow

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