One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

The USDA zone info for Worcester should be reviewed to estimate when it's possible to plant basil.

Planting Calendar for Basil

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

Basil are not cold tolerant which tells us that it is necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant basil in Worcester 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 Worcester. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Worcester and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Worcester last frost occurs after April 15 so always be ready to cover your basil if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Worcester

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 Worcester

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