Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The best time to plant dahlias in Lafayette should be estimated by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Dahlias

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

Since dahlias require warm weather you need to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant dahlias in Lafayette 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your dahlias may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your dahlias indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Lafayette. You can expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Lafayette is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Lafayette you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your dahlias in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lafayette

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 Lafayette

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