One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Sumter you can figure out when to plant dahlia by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Dahlia

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

You can not plant dahlia until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant dahlia in Sumter 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 couple of weeks earlier by starting your dahlia indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in Sumter. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Sumter is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Sumter it frosts late in the year after March 15 so always be ready to protect your dahlia in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sumter

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 Sumter

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