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.

One way of figuring out when to plant dahlias is to examine the USDA zone info for Gardner.

Planting Calendar for Dahlias

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

Since dahlias do not do well in cold weather it is necessary to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant dahlias in Gardner 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 fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your dahlias indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Gardner. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Gardner is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Gardner there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your dahlias if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Gardner

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 Gardner

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