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.

One way of estimating when you can plant dahlia is to refer to the USDA zone info for Salinas.

Planting Calendar for Dahlia

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

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

The earliest that you can plant dahlia in Salinas 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your dahlia may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your dahlia indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on February 15 in Salinas. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Salinas may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Salinas last frost occurs after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your dahlia if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Salinas

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 Salinas

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