Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant dahlias is to check out the USDA zone info for Faribault.

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 all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant dahlias in Faribault is May. However, you really should wait until June 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. Any later than that and your dahlias may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your dahlias indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Faribault the average date of last frost happens on May 15. It might get as low as -25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Faribault is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Faribault you get a frost after May 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your dahlias in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Faribault

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Faribault

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