When to Plant Dahlias in Lawrence, MA

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 first opportunity to plant dahlias in Lawrence should be determined by checking out the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Dahlias

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant dahlias until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they require warm weather.

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

The earliest that you can plant dahlias in Lawrence 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. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your dahlias indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Lawrence. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Lawrence may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Lawrence you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your dahlias in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lawrence

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 Lawrence

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