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

One way of getting a good idea when it's the best time to plant basil is to use the USDA zone info for Chambersburg.

Planting Calendar for Basil

Frost tolerance for basil:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

It's probably not a good idea to plant basil until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant basil in Chambersburg 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. Any later than that and your basil may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your basil indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Chambersburg. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Chambersburg is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Chambersburg there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your basil in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Chambersburg

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°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 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Chambersburg

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