One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the 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.

The first chance to plant basil in Council Bluffs should be estimated by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Basil

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

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 Council Bluffs 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. Any later than that and 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 few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Council Bluffs. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Council Bluffs is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Council Bluffs you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your basil if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Council Bluffs

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°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 -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Council Bluffs

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Council Bluffs.