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

You can estimate when you can plant dahlias in Longwood by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Dahlias

Frost tolerance for dahlias:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Since dahlias require warm weather it's necessary to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant dahlias in Longwood 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 dahlias and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your dahlias may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your dahlias indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on February 15 in Longwood. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Longwood and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Longwood you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your dahlias in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Longwood

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°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 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Longwood

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