Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. 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 figuring out when it's possible to plant dahlia is to examine the USDA zone info for Lake City.

Planting Calendar for Dahlia

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

Since dahlia require warm weather it is necessary to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant dahlia in Lake City 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. If you are starting your dahlia indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on March 15 in Lake City. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Lake City is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Lake City it frosts late in the year after March 15 be ready to cover your dahlia in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Lake City

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Lake City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Lake City.