One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the 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.

In Charlottesville you can determine when to plant dahlias 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 when the weather gets warmer.

You really shouldn't plant dahlias until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant dahlias in Charlottesville 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 little bit earlier by starting your dahlias indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Charlottesville. You should expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Charlottesville 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 Charlottesville it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your dahlias in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Charlottesville

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 Charlottesville

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