The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. 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 Sheldon can be determined 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.

It's probably not a good idea to plant basil until after the last frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant basil in Sheldon is May. However, you really should wait until June 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. If you wait 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 couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Sheldon the average date of last frost happens on May 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Sheldon may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Sheldon there is a last frost after May 15 be ready to protect your basil if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Sheldon

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°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 -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Sheldon

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