When to Plant Basil in Red Lion, PA

One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Red Lion should be read to estimate when you can plant basil.


Planting Calendar for Basil

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

Basil are not cold tolerant which means that you have to wait until it warms up after the last frost 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 Red Lion 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your basil indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Red Lion the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Red Lion is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Red Lion last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your basil in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Red Lion

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low0°F
Highest Expected Low5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Red Lion

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Red Lion.