One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Tuscola you can figure out when it's a good idea to plant dahlia 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.

Dahlia do not do well in cold weather which tells us that it's necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant dahlia in Tuscola 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 few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Tuscola and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Tuscola you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your dahlia if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Tuscola

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 Tuscola

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