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.

You will be able to estimate when it's a good idea to plant basil by looking at the USDA zone info for Arlington.

Planting Calendar for Basil

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

Basil require warm weather which means that it's necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant basil in Arlington 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. If you are starting your basil indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Arlington. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Arlington is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Arlington last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to cover your basil if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Arlington

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Arlington

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