One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Westchester you will be able to determine when it's a good idea to plant dahlias.

Planting Calendar for Dahlias

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

Dahlias are not cold tolerant which means that it's important to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant dahlias in Westchester 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 dahlias and expect a good harvest is probably August. 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 couple of weeks earlier by starting your dahlias indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Westchester. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Westchester is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Westchester there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your dahlias in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Westchester

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°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 -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Westchester

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