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

You should be able to figure out when you can plant dahlia by using the USDA zone info for Nashville.

Planting Calendar for Dahlia

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

Since dahlia require warm weather you must wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant dahlia in Nashville 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your dahlia indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in Nashville. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Nashville is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Nashville last frost occurs after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your dahlia if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Nashville

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 Nashville

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