Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Centralia you should be able to estimate when it's the best time to plant dahlia.

Planting Calendar for Dahlia

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

You can not plant dahlia until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant dahlia in Centralia 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your dahlia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your dahlia indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Centralia. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Centralia may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Centralia you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your dahlia if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Centralia

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Centralia

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