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

The USDA zone info for Montgomery can be reffered to in order to estimate when it's possible to plant dahlia.

Planting Calendar for Dahlia

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

You should not plant dahlia until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant dahlia in Montgomery 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. Any later than that and 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 little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Montgomery. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Montgomery may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Montgomery you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your dahlia if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Montgomery

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 Montgomery

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