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.

A way of determining when it's possible to plant dahlias is to consult the USDA zone info for New Brunswick.

Planting Calendar for Dahlias

Frost tolerance for dahlias:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

It's not a good idea to plant dahlias until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant dahlias in New Brunswick 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. If you wait any later than that and your dahlias may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your dahlias indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In New Brunswick the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for New Brunswick and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in New Brunswick last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your dahlias if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for New Brunswick

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 New Brunswick

You may be interested in your other planting guides for New Brunswick.