One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's possible to determine when to plant basil by checking out the USDA zone info for Clinton.

Planting Calendar for Basil

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

Since basil require warm weather it's necessary to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant basil in Clinton 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 really do well. 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

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Clinton. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Clinton is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Clinton there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your basil if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Clinton

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 Clinton

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