The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of estimating when you can plant basil is to use the USDA zone info for Corvallis.

Planting Calendar for Basil

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

It's a bad idea to plant basil until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant basil in Corvallis 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 few weeks earlier by starting your basil indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Corvallis. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Corvallis is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Corvallis there is a last frost after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your basil if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Corvallis

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Corvallis

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