One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

One way of determining when it's a good idea to plant dahlias is to refer to the USDA zone info for Orange City.

Planting Calendar for Dahlias

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

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

The earliest that you can plant dahlias in Orange City 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. If you wait any later than that and your dahlias may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your dahlias indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Orange City the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Orange City and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Orange City it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your dahlias in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Orange City

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 Orange City

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