One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of figuring out when it's possible to plant basil is to check out the USDA zone info for Dunbar.

Planting Calendar for Basil

Frost tolerance for basil:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

You should not plant basil until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant basil in Dunbar 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 really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your basil indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Dunbar. You can expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Dunbar and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Dunbar last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your basil if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Dunbar

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Dunbar

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