One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

You can determine when it's the best time to plant basil in Payette by using 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 a bad idea to plant basil until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant basil in Payette 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 little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Payette. You should expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Payette 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 Payette you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your basil in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Payette

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Payette

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