One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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 Winter Park should be looked at to determine when you can plant dahlias.

Planting Calendar for Dahlias

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

Since dahlias do not do well in cold weather it is necessary to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant dahlias in Winter Park 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. If you wait any later than that and your dahlias may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your dahlias indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Winter Park. You should expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Winter Park and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Winter Park you get a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your dahlias in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Winter Park

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 Winter Park

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Winter Park.