One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Lafayette you can estimate when it's a good idea to plant basil by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Basil

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

It's not a good idea to plant basil until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant basil in Lafayette 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. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your basil indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Lafayette. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Lafayette is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Lafayette you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your basil if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lafayette

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 Lafayette

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