One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first chance to plant basil in Oxford can be figured out by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Basil

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

Since basil require warm weather you must wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant basil in Oxford 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. Starting your basil indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Oxford. You should expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Oxford is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Oxford there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your basil if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Oxford

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 Oxford

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