One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Biddeford you should be able 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 has passed.

Since basil are not cold tolerant it's necessary to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant basil in Biddeford 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 really do well. If you are starting your basil indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Biddeford. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Biddeford is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Biddeford you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your basil if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Biddeford

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 Biddeford

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