One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your 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.

The first opportunity to plant dahlias in Richland can be figured out 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.

It's not a good idea to plant dahlias until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant dahlias in Richland 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 grow to maturity. Starting your dahlias indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Richland. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Richland is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Richland you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your dahlias if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Richland

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 Richland

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