One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

You will be able to estimate when it's possible to plant dahlias by reviewing the USDA zone info for Decatur.

Planting Calendar for Dahlias

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

Dahlias do not do well in cold weather which tells us that you really should wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant dahlias in Decatur 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 grow to maturity. Starting your dahlias indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Decatur. You should expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Decatur is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Decatur you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your dahlias if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Decatur

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°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 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Decatur

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