One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

In Beatrice you can determine when it's a good idea to plant basil by looking at 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 do not do well in cold weather you need to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant basil in Beatrice 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. Starting your basil indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Beatrice may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Beatrice you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your basil in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Beatrice

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 Beatrice

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