- var_dump: documentation ( source)
<?php
$date = new DateTime('2012-03-30');
$date->modify("last day of last month");
var_dump($date->format('Y-m-d')); // correctly last day of Feb
$date->setDate(2012, 1, 30);
var_dump($date->format('Y-m-d')); // incorrect date
$date->modify('2012-01-30');
var_dump($date->format('Y-m-d')); // does set correct date