One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

The earliest that you can plant basil in Missouri City should be determined by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Basil

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

You should not plant basil until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant basil in Missouri City is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant basil and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your basil may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your basil indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Missouri City. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Missouri City may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Missouri City last frost occurs after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your basil in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Missouri City

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Missouri City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Missouri City.