One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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 Dade City can be reviewed to figure out when you can plant dahlias.

Planting Calendar for Dahlias

Frost tolerance for dahlias:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

You really shouldn't plant dahlias until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant dahlias in Dade City 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 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 fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your dahlias indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on February 15 in Dade City. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Dade City and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Dade City last frost occurs after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your dahlias if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Dade City

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 Dade City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Dade City.