One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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 estimate when it's a good idea to plant dahlia in New Lenox by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Dahlia

Frost tolerance for dahlia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Since dahlia are not cold tolerant you need to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant dahlia in New Lenox 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. If you wait any later than that and your dahlia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your dahlia indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for New Lenox is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in New Lenox it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your dahlia in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for New Lenox

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 New Lenox

You may be interested in your other planting guides for New Lenox.