One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

It's possible to figure out when it's a good idea to plant dahlias by looking at the USDA zone info for Alcoa.

Planting Calendar for Dahlias

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

You should not plant dahlias until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant dahlias in Alcoa 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. Starting your dahlias indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Alcoa the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Alcoa is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Alcoa you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your dahlias if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Alcoa

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Alcoa

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