One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of making a decision about when to plant basil is to look at the USDA zone info for Fort Walton 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.

Basil require warm weather which means that it's important 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 Fort Walton Beach 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 grow to maturity. If you are starting your basil indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in Fort Walton Beach. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Fort Walton Beach and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Fort Walton Beach last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to protect your basil if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Fort Walton Beach

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Fort Walton Beach

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