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

The USDA zone info for El Dorado should be read to figure out when it's a good idea to plant dahlias.

Planting Calendar for Dahlias

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

You can not plant dahlias until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant dahlias in El Dorado 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. Starting your dahlias indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in El Dorado. 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 is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for El Dorado and it is different every year. Half of the time in El Dorado it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your dahlias if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for El Dorado

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 El Dorado

You may be interested in your other planting guides for El Dorado.