One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Lebanon can be looked at to determine when it's a good idea to plant basil.

Planting Calendar for Basil

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

You can not plant basil until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant basil in Lebanon 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 grow to maturity. 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 Lebanon. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Lebanon is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Lebanon you get a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your basil if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Lebanon

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 Lebanon

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