One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Bellflower you should be able to figure out when it's a good idea to plant dahlia.

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 really shouldn't plant dahlia until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant dahlia in Bellflower is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant dahlia and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your dahlia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your dahlia indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Bellflower. It might get as low as 35°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Bellflower may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Bellflower last frost occurs after January 31 so be sure to be ready to protect your dahlia if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Bellflower

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	35°F
Highest Expected Low	40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in Bellflower

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