One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Palos Park you can determine when it's a good idea to plant dahlias by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Dahlias

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

It's a bad idea to plant dahlias until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant dahlias in Palos Park 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 grow to maturity. If you are starting your dahlias 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 Palos Park. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Palos Park is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Palos Park last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your dahlias if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Palos Park

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 Palos Park

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Palos Park.