When to Plant Dahlias in Plattsburgh, NY

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of determining when it's possible to plant dahlias is to use the USDA zone info for Plattsburgh.


Planting Calendar for Dahlias

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

Since dahlias are not cold tolerant you have to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant dahlias
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant dahlias
Probably not a good time to plant dahlias

The earliest that you can plant dahlias in Plattsburgh 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. If you wait any later than that and 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 few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Plattsburgh. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Plattsburgh is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Plattsburgh you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your dahlias in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Plattsburgh

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-20°F
Highest Expected Low-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Plattsburgh

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