One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

In Park Ridge you can determine when to plant dahlias by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Dahlias

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

Since dahlias require warm weather you really should wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant dahlias in Park Ridge 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. Any later than that and your dahlias may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your dahlias indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Park Ridge. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Park Ridge and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Park Ridge you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your dahlias if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Park Ridge

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 Park Ridge

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Park Ridge.