One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to figure out when to plant basil by referring to the USDA zone info for Mount Pleasant.

Planting Calendar for Basil

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant basil until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant basil in Mount Pleasant 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 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

In Mount Pleasant the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Mount Pleasant is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Mount Pleasant it frosts late in the year after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your basil in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Mount Pleasant

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 Mount Pleasant

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Mount Pleasant.