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

You should be able to estimate when you can plant basil by referring to the USDA zone info for La Crosse.

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 La Crosse is May. However, you really should wait until June 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 really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your basil indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in La Crosse. It might get as low as -25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for La Crosse and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in La Crosse it frosts late in the year after May 15 so always be ready to cover your basil in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for La Crosse

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

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

Plants to Grow in La Crosse

You may be interested in your other planting guides for La Crosse.