One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Alamogordo can be reffered to in order to determine when it's the best time to plant basil.

Planting Calendar for Basil

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

You really shouldn't plant basil until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant basil in Alamogordo 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 fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your basil indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in Alamogordo. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Alamogordo is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Alamogordo there is a last frost after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your basil if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Alamogordo

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Alamogordo

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