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.

The earliest that you can plant basil in Hood River can be determined by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Basil

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

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

The earliest that you can plant basil in Hood River 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. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your basil indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Hood River. It might get as low as 5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Hood River and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Hood River there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your basil in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Hood River

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 Hood River

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Hood River.