One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Atoka can be reviewed to estimate when it's possible to plant dahlias.

Planting Calendar for Dahlias

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

It's a bad idea to plant dahlias until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant dahlias in Atoka 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. If you wait any later than that and your dahlias may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your dahlias indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Atoka the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Atoka and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Atoka it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your dahlias if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Atoka

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°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 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Atoka

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