One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the 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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for New York it's a good idea to estimate when to plant basil.

Planting Calendar for Basil

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant basil until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant basil in New York 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. If you are starting your basil indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in New York. It might get as low as 5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for New York is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in New York there is a last frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your basil if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for New York

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in New York

You may be interested in your other planting guides for New York.