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

A way of making a decision about when it's the best time to plant dahlias is to check out the USDA zone info for San Antonio.

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 means that it is necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant dahlias in San Antonio 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 really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your dahlias indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in San Antonio. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for San Antonio and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in San Antonio you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your dahlias in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for San Antonio

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in San Antonio

You may be interested in your other planting guides for San Antonio.