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 should be able to determine when it's possible to plant dahlia by referring to the USDA zone info for Cicero.

Planting Calendar for Dahlia

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

Since dahlia do not do well in cold weather you have to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant dahlia in Cicero 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 really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your dahlia indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Cicero. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Cicero is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Cicero you get a frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your dahlia in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Cicero

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 Cicero

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