One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

In Zone 9a you can figure out when it's possible to plant dahlia by checking out 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.

You really shouldn't plant dahlia until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant dahlia in Zone 9a is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Zone 9a. You can expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Zone 9a may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Zone 9a you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so always be ready to cover your dahlia if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 9a

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 9a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 9a.