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

You can figure out when it's a good idea to plant dahlia in Mountainside by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Dahlia

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

Dahlia are not cold tolerant which means that it's necessary to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant dahlia in Mountainside 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your dahlia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your dahlia indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Mountainside is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Mountainside last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your dahlia if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mountainside

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 Mountainside

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