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

A way of estimating when it's the best time to plant dahlia is to use the USDA zone info for Piedmont.

Planting Calendar for Dahlia

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

Dahlia do not do well in cold weather which tells us that it's necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant dahlia in Piedmont 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. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your dahlia indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Piedmont. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Piedmont is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Piedmont you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your dahlia if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Piedmont

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 Piedmont

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