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.

It's possible to figure out when it's possible to plant dahlia by checking out the USDA zone info for Berkeley.

Planting Calendar for Dahlia

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant dahlia until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant dahlia in Berkeley 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. Any later than that and your dahlia may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your dahlia indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Berkeley the average date of last frost happens on January 31. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 30°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Berkeley and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Berkeley you get surprised by a frost after January 31 be ready to cover your dahlia in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Berkeley

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Berkeley

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