One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

A common way of getting a good idea when it's the best time to plant dahlia is to refer to the USDA zone info for Arlington.

Planting Calendar for Dahlia

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant dahlia until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant dahlia in Arlington 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. Any later than that and your dahlia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your dahlia indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Arlington the average date of last frost happens on March 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

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 Arlington and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Arlington you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your dahlia in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Arlington

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 Arlington

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