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.

The earliest that you can plant dahlia in Florence should be figured out by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Dahlia

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

It's a bad idea to plant dahlia until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant dahlia in Florence 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. Any later than that and your dahlia may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your dahlia indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Florence the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

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

USDA Zone Info for Florence

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 Florence

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