One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

You can determine when you can plant dahlias in Elmhurst by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Dahlias

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

Since dahlias are not cold tolerant you must wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant dahlias in Elmhurst 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 fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your dahlias indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Elmhurst. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

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

USDA Zone Info for Elmhurst

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Elmhurst

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