One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

By using the USDA zone info for Passaic it's a good idea to estimate when to plant dahlia.

Planting Calendar for Dahlia

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

It's a bad idea to plant dahlia until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant dahlia in Passaic 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. If you wait any later than that and your dahlia may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your dahlia indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Passaic may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Passaic there is a last frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your dahlia if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Passaic

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 Passaic

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