Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You will be able to estimate when you can plant basil by referring to the USDA zone info for Smyrna.

Planting Calendar for Basil

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant basil until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant basil in Smyrna 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. If you wait any later than that and your basil may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your basil indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Smyrna. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Smyrna and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Smyrna it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your basil in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Smyrna

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 Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°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 Smyrna

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