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.

The USDA zone info for Half Moon Bay should be reffered to in order to determine when it's the best time to plant dahlia.

Planting Calendar for Dahlia

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

Dahlia do not do well in cold weather which means that it is necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant dahlia in Half Moon Bay 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. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your dahlia indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Half Moon Bay the average date of last frost happens on January 31. It might get as low as 30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Half Moon Bay is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Half Moon Bay last frost occurs after January 31 be ready to cover your dahlia in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Half Moon Bay

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 Half Moon Bay

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Half Moon Bay.