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 making a decision about when it's possible to plant dahlia is to look at the USDA zone info for Amsterdam.

Planting Calendar for Dahlia

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

It's probably not a good 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 Amsterdam 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. Any later than that and your dahlia may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your dahlia indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Amsterdam. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Amsterdam is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Amsterdam there is a last frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your dahlia if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Amsterdam

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Amsterdam

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