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When to Plant Parsnip in West Des Moines, IA

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.

A way of getting a good idea when it's a good idea to plant parsnip is to check out the USDA zone info for West Des Moines.


Planting Calendar for Parsnip

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

Parsnip do well in moderate cold which means that you can get them planted earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant parsnip
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant parsnip
Probably not a good time to plant parsnip

The earliest that you can plant parsnip in West Des Moines 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 parsnip and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your parsnip may not have a chance to fully mature. 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 the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in West Des Moines. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for West Des Moines is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in West Des Moines you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your parsnip in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for West Des Moines

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 West Des Moines

You may be interested in your other planting guides for West Des Moines.