One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

The first opportunity to plant dahlias in De Soto should be figured out by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Dahlias

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

Since dahlias are not cold tolerant you must wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant dahlias in De Soto 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. If you wait any later than that and your dahlias may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your dahlias indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in De Soto. You should expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for De Soto and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in De Soto it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your dahlias in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for De Soto

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in De Soto

You may be interested in your other planting guides for De Soto.