One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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 earliest that you can plant basil in Old Town can be determined 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 has passed.

Since basil require warm weather you really should wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant basil in Old Town 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 little bit earlier by starting your basil indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Old Town. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Old Town is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Old Town there is a last frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your basil in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Old Town

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Old Town

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Old Town.