One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

A common way of getting a good idea when to plant dahlias is to look at the USDA zone info for Van Buren.

Planting Calendar for Dahlias

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

You can not plant dahlias until after the last frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant dahlias in Van Buren 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. If you wait any later than that and your dahlias may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your dahlias indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Van Buren. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Van Buren and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Van Buren you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your dahlias in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Van Buren

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 Van Buren

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Van Buren.