One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the 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 Erwin can be reffered to in order to figure out when it's the best time to plant dahlias.

Planting Calendar for Dahlias

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

You really shouldn't plant dahlias until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant dahlias in Erwin 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 dahlias and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your dahlias may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your dahlias indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Erwin. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Erwin is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Erwin it frosts late in the year after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your dahlias in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Erwin

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Erwin

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