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.

It's possible to estimate when to plant dahlias by looking at the USDA zone info for Lancaster.

Planting Calendar for Dahlias

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

Since dahlias do not do well in cold weather it's important to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant dahlias in Lancaster is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant dahlias and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your dahlias may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your dahlias indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Lancaster. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Lancaster is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Lancaster it frosts late in the year after March 15 so always be ready to cover your dahlias if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Lancaster

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Lancaster

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