One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

By using the USDA zone info for Pacific it's possible to figure out when it's the best time to plant dahlias.

Planting Calendar for Dahlias

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

Since dahlias are not cold tolerant it's important to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant dahlias in Pacific 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. If you are starting your dahlias indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in Pacific. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Pacific is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Pacific it frosts late in the year after March 15 be ready to cover your dahlias if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Pacific

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 Pacific

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