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.

The first opportunity to plant dahlias in Long Beach should be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Dahlias

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

Dahlias do not do well in cold weather which tells us that it's important to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant dahlias in Long Beach is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant dahlias and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your dahlias may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your dahlias indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Long Beach. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Long Beach is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Long Beach it frosts late in the year after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your dahlias in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Long Beach

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

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

Plants to Grow in Long Beach

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Long Beach.