One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

The first opportunity to plant dahlia in Waterford can be figured out by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Dahlia

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

Dahlia require warm weather which tells us that it's necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant dahlia in Waterford 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 grow to maturity. 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 the last frost is on February 15 in Waterford. You should expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Waterford is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Waterford last frost occurs after February 15 be ready to protect your dahlia in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Waterford

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 Waterford

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