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

In Alexander City you can estimate when it's possible to plant dahlia by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Dahlia

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

You can not plant dahlia until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant dahlia in Alexander City 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 dahlia and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your dahlia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your dahlia indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Alexander City. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Alexander City and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Alexander City it frosts late in the year after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your dahlia if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Alexander City

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Alexander City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Alexander City.