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.

It's a good idea to determine when it's possible to plant dahlia by using the USDA zone info for Virginia.

Planting Calendar for Dahlia

Frost tolerance for dahlia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

You should not plant dahlia until after the last frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant dahlia in Virginia 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 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

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Virginia. It might get as low as -35°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Virginia is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Virginia you get surprised by a frost after May 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your dahlia if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Virginia

Here is the info for USDA Zone 3b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-35°F
Highest Expected Low	-30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -30°F.

Plants to Grow in Virginia

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