Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Patchogue you can figure out when it's a good idea to plant dahlia by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Dahlia

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant dahlia until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant dahlia in Patchogue 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your dahlia may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your dahlia indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Patchogue. You can expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Patchogue is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Patchogue last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your dahlia in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Patchogue

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 Patchogue

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