When to Plant Dahlias in Pawtucket, RI

One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Pawtucket you can estimate when it's the best time to plant dahlias by referring to the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Dahlias

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant dahlias until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant dahlias
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant dahlias
Probably not a good time to plant dahlias

The earliest that you can plant dahlias in Pawtucket 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 really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your dahlias indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Pawtucket. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Pawtucket may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Pawtucket you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your dahlias in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Pawtucket

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-5°F
Highest Expected Low0°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 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Pawtucket

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