Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You will be able to figure out when you can plant basil by looking at the USDA zone info for Cleveland.

Planting Calendar for Basil

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

You should not plant basil until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant basil in Cleveland 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

In Cleveland the average date of last frost happens on March 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Cleveland may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Cleveland you get surprised by a frost after March 15 be ready to cover your basil in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Cleveland

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Cleveland

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