One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can figure out when it's the best time to plant dahlias in Colorado Springs by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Dahlias

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

It's a bad idea to plant dahlias until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant dahlias in Colorado Springs 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. If you wait 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

In Colorado Springs the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Colorado Springs 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 Colorado Springs you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your dahlias if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Colorado Springs

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°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 -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Colorado Springs

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Colorado Springs.