When to Plant Parsley in Downers Grove, IL

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant parsley in Downers Grove can be figured out by looking at the USDA zone info.


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 one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant parsley in Downers Grove 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 really do well. Starting your parsley indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Downers Grove. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Downers Grove is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Downers Grove last frost occurs after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your parsley in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Downers Grove

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-15°F
Highest Expected Low-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Downers Grove

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Downers Grove.