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 La Palma should be reviewed to figure out when it's the best time to plant dahlias.

Planting Calendar for Dahlias

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

You really shouldn't plant dahlias until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant dahlias in La Palma 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 dahlias and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your dahlias may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your dahlias indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on January 31 in La Palma. You should expect an average low temperature of 35°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for La Palma is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in La Palma there is a last frost after January 31 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your dahlias in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for La Palma

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 La Palma

You may be interested in your other planting guides for La Palma.