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.

One way of getting a good idea when it's a good idea to plant dahlias is to examine the USDA zone info for Nitro.

Planting Calendar for Dahlias

Frost tolerance for dahlias:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

It's probably not a good idea to plant dahlias until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant dahlias in Nitro 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. Any later than that and your dahlias may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your dahlias indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Nitro. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Nitro is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Nitro you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your dahlias in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Nitro

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Nitro

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