One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Sikeston should be reviewed to figure out when you can plant dahlia.

Planting Calendar for Dahlia

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

Since dahlia are not cold tolerant you have to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant dahlia in Sikeston 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 fully mature. If you are starting your dahlia indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Sikeston. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Sikeston is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Sikeston you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your dahlia if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sikeston

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Sikeston

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