When to Plant Basil in Brookhaven, PA

One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

You can determine when it's a good idea to plant basil in Brookhaven 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.

Since basil require warm weather you must wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant basil
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant basil
Probably not a good time to plant basil

The earliest that you can plant basil in Brookhaven 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. Starting your basil indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Brookhaven the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Brookhaven may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Brookhaven you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your basil in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Brookhaven

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 Low5°F
Highest Expected Low10°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 Brookhaven

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