One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

In Cliffside Park you can determine when it's a good idea to plant basil by reviewing 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.

It's not a good idea to plant basil until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant basil in Cliffside Park 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 Cliffside Park the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Cliffside Park is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Cliffside Park you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your basil in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Cliffside Park

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Cliffside Park

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Cliffside Park.