One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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 Chatham should 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.

Basil require warm weather which means that it's important to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant basil in Chatham 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 few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Chatham. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Chatham is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Chatham it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your basil in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Chatham

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Chatham

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