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.

The best time to plant dahlias in Cleveland can be estimated by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Dahlias

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

Dahlias do not do well in cold weather which tells us that it's necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant dahlias in Cleveland is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant dahlias and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your dahlias may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your dahlias indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Cleveland. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Cleveland is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Cleveland it frosts late in the year after February 15 so always be ready to protect your dahlias if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Cleveland

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°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 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Cleveland

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