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.

A common way of getting a good idea when to plant basil is to use the USDA zone info for Lemont.

Planting Calendar for Basil

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

Basil do not do well in cold weather which tells us that you have to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant basil in Lemont 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. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your basil indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Lemont may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Lemont you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your basil in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lemont

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 Lemont

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