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 Gainesville should be estimated 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.

It's not a good idea to plant dahlia until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant dahlia in Gainesville 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 dahlia and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your dahlia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your dahlia indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Gainesville the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as 5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Gainesville and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Gainesville there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your dahlia in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Gainesville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Gainesville

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