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.

You can determine when it's a good idea to plant dahlia in Chester by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Dahlia

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

Dahlia do not do well in cold weather which tells us that you have to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Chester. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Chester and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Chester 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 Chester

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Chester

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