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.

A way of determining when it's a good idea to plant basil is to consult the USDA zone info for Hillside.

Planting Calendar for Basil

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

You can not plant basil until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant basil in Hillside 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. 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

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

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Hillside is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Hillside last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your basil if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Hillside

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 Hillside

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