When to Plant Dahlia in Garden City, MI

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 chance to plant dahlia in Garden City can be determined by reviewing the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Dahlia

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

You should not plant dahlia until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

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 Garden City 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your dahlia indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Garden City. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Garden City is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Garden City you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your dahlia in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Garden City

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 Garden City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Garden City.