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 Mountlake Terrace you can figure out when it's a good idea to plant basil by looking at 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.

You can not plant basil until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in Mountlake Terrace. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Mountlake Terrace may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Mountlake Terrace last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to protect your basil if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mountlake Terrace

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 Mountlake Terrace

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Mountlake Terrace.