When to Plant Basil in Elmhurst, IL

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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 first opportunity to plant basil in Elmhurst should be determined by reviewing the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Basil

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant basil until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they require warm weather.

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 Elmhurst 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 grow to maturity. Starting your basil indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Elmhurst. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Elmhurst is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Elmhurst it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your basil in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Elmhurst

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Elmhurst

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