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.

A way of estimating when it's possible to plant dahlia is to check out the USDA zone info for Goleta.

Planting Calendar for Dahlia

Frost tolerance for dahlia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Dahlia are not cold tolerant which tells us that it is important to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant dahlia in Goleta is March. However, you really should wait until April 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 couple of weeks earlier by starting your dahlia indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on February 15 in Goleta. You should expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Goleta is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Goleta it frosts late in the year after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your dahlia in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Goleta

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Goleta

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