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 common way of getting a good idea when it's possible to plant dahlia is to refer to the USDA zone info for Yankton.

Planting Calendar for Dahlia

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

You really shouldn't plant dahlia until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant dahlia in Yankton 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 few weeks earlier by starting your dahlia indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Yankton. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Yankton is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Yankton last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your dahlia if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Yankton

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Yankton

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