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.

The earliest that you can plant dahlia in Zone 13a should be estimated 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 when the weather gets warmer.

It's probably not a good idea to plant dahlia until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant dahlia in Zone 13a is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant dahlia and expect a good harvest is probably November. If you wait any later than that and your dahlia may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your dahlia indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Zone 13a it never frosts. You should expect an average low temperature of 60°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Zone 13a and it changes from year to year. Since it never frosts in Zone 13a you do not have to be ready to protect your dahlia in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 13a

Here is the info for USDA Zone 13a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	Never
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	Never
Lowest Expected Low	60°F
Highest Expected Low	65°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 60°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 65°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 13a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 13a.