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.

A way of estimating when it's possible to plant basil is to refer to the USDA zone info for Ridgeland.

Planting Calendar for Basil

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

Basil require warm weather which means that it's necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

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

Last Frost Date

In Ridgeland the average date of last frost happens on March 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Ridgeland may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Ridgeland 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 Ridgeland

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 Ridgeland

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