The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's a good idea to determine when it's a good idea to plant dahlia by reviewing the USDA zone info for Cortland.

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 not a good idea to plant dahlia until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant dahlia in Cortland 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 grow to maturity. Starting your dahlia indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Cortland. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Cortland and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Cortland it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your dahlia if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Cortland

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 Cortland

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