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.

The first chance to plant basil in Roanoke Rapids can be figured out by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Basil

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

Basil do not do well in cold weather which tells us that you need to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant basil in Roanoke Rapids 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 couple of weeks earlier by starting your basil indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Roanoke Rapids. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Roanoke Rapids is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Roanoke Rapids it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your basil if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Roanoke Rapids

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°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 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Roanoke Rapids

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Roanoke Rapids.