One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant parsnip in Los Altos should be estimated by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Parsnip

Frost tolerance for parsnip:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Parsnip do ok in some cold which means that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant parsnip in Los Altos 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 parsnip and expect a good harvest is probably October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your parsnip may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your parsnip indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on February 15 in Los Altos. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Los Altos and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Los Altos it frosts late in the year after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your parsnip if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Los Altos

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Los Altos

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Los Altos.