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.

You will be able to determine when you can plant basil by reviewing the USDA zone info for Salem.

Planting Calendar for Basil

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

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

The earliest that you can plant basil in Salem 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your basil may not have a chance to grow to maturity. 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 Salem. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Salem may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Salem you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your basil if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Salem

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 Salem

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