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

You can estimate when it's a good idea to plant dahlia in Traverse City by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Dahlia

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

Since dahlia are not cold tolerant it is necessary to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant dahlia in Traverse 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your dahlia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your dahlia indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Traverse City is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Traverse City last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your dahlia in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Traverse 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 Traverse City

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