One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

One way of getting a good idea when it's a good idea to plant dahlias is to use the USDA zone info for Marathon.

Planting Calendar for Dahlias

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

It's a bad idea to plant dahlias until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

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

The last month that you can plant dahlias and expect a good harvest is probably November. If you wait any later than that and your dahlias may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your dahlias indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Marathon it never frosts. You should expect an average low temperature of 45°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Marathon is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since it never frosts in Marathon you do not have to be ready to protect your dahlias in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Marathon

Here is the info for USDA Zone 11b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	Never
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	Never
Lowest Expected Low	45°F
Highest Expected Low	50°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 45°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 50°F.

Plants to Grow in Marathon

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