Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden 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 making a decision about when to plant dahlia is to examine the USDA zone info for Berne.

Planting Calendar for Dahlia

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

Since dahlia do not do well in cold weather it is important to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant dahlia in Berne 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 fully mature. Starting your dahlia indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Berne. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Berne may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Berne 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 Berne

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Berne

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