One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant dahlias is to look at the USDA zone info for Northvale.

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 a bad idea to plant dahlias until after the last frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant dahlias in Northvale 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 really do well. If you are starting your dahlias indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Northvale the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Northvale may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Northvale it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your dahlias if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Northvale

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 Northvale

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