When to Plant Dahlias in Wauconda, IL

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of determining when it's a good idea to plant dahlias is to examine the USDA zone info for Wauconda.


Planting Calendar for Dahlias

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

Dahlias are not cold tolerant which tells us that you have to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant dahlias
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant dahlias
Probably not a good time to plant dahlias

The earliest that you can plant dahlias in Wauconda 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else 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 couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Wauconda. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Wauconda is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Wauconda it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your dahlias in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Wauconda

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 Wauconda

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