One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

The USDA zone info for Hagerstown can be reviewed to estimate when you can plant basil.

Planting Calendar for Basil

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

You really shouldn't plant basil until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant basil in Hagerstown 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. Any later than that and your basil may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your basil indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Hagerstown. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Hagerstown is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Hagerstown it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your basil in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Hagerstown

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Hagerstown

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