When to Plant Basil in Benton, IL

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

The USDA zone info for Benton can be used to determine when it's possible to plant basil.


Planting Calendar for Basil

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

Since basil require warm weather you really should wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer 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 Benton 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else 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 couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Benton. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Benton is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Benton it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your basil in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Benton

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 Benton

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