The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Perry should be used to estimate when to plant basil.

Planting Calendar for Basil

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

It's not a good 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 Perry 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. Starting your basil indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Perry the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Perry is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Perry you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your basil if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Perry

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 Perry

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