One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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 common way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant dahlia is to use the USDA zone info for Sidney.

Planting Calendar for Dahlia

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

You should not 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 Sidney 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. If you wait any later than that and your dahlia may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your dahlia indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Sidney. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Sidney and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Sidney you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your dahlia in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Sidney

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 Sidney

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