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.

One way of getting a good idea when it's the best time to plant dahlias is to examine the USDA zone info for Tonawanda.

Planting Calendar for Dahlias

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant dahlias until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant dahlias in Tonawanda 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 grow to maturity. 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 Tonawanda. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Tonawanda is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Tonawanda 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 Tonawanda

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Tonawanda

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