Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate 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 dahlia in Rutland can be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Dahlia

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

Dahlia are not cold tolerant which means that you have to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant dahlia in Rutland 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your dahlia may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your dahlia indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Rutland. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Rutland and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Rutland last frost occurs after April 15 so always be ready to cover your dahlia in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Rutland

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°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 -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Rutland

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