One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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 USDA zone info for Ames can be reviewed to estimate when it's a good idea to plant parsley.

Planting Calendar for Parsley

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

Since parsley are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a little earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant parsley in Ames is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant parsley and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your parsley may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your parsley indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Ames. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Ames is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Ames it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your parsley if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Ames

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°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 -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Ames

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