When to Plant Dahlia in Madisonville, KY

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of determining when you can plant dahlia is to examine the USDA zone info for Madisonville.


Planting Calendar for Dahlia

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

Dahlia do not do well in cold weather which tells us that it's necessary to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant dahlia
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant dahlia
Probably not a good time to plant dahlia

The earliest that you can plant dahlia in Madisonville 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 few weeks earlier by starting your dahlia indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Madisonville. You should expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Madisonville is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Madisonville you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your dahlia if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Madisonville

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 Low0°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 Madisonville

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