When to Plant Basil in Belleville, IL

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant basil in Belleville can be estimated by referring to the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Basil

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

Since basil require warm weather you have to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant basil
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant basil
Probably not a good time to plant basil

The earliest that you can plant basil in Belleville 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. If you wait 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 little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Belleville. You can expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Belleville and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Belleville there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your basil if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Belleville

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 Low0°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 Belleville

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