The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's possible to figure out when it's possible to plant dahlias by looking at the USDA zone info for Estherville.

Planting Calendar for Dahlias

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

You really shouldn't 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 Estherville 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. 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

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Estherville. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Estherville is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Estherville you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your dahlias in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Estherville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Estherville

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