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.

In Hollywood you can figure out when it's the best time to plant basil by using 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.

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

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in Hollywood. You should expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Hollywood is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Hollywood there is a last frost after March 15 be ready to protect your basil in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Hollywood

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Hollywood

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