One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Franklin you can determine when it's possible to plant dahlia by reviewing 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.

It's probably a bad idea to plant dahlia until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant dahlia in Franklin 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. If you wait any later than that and your dahlia may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your dahlia 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 Franklin. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Franklin is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Franklin you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your dahlia if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Franklin

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°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 -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Franklin

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