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.

You can determine when to plant basil in Gardner by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Basil

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

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

The earliest that you can plant basil in Gardner 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 grow to maturity. 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 Gardner. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Gardner is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Gardner there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your basil if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Gardner

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 Gardner

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