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.

In Elgin you can figure out when it's possible to plant parsnip by reviewing 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 tend to make it in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant parsnip in Elgin 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. Any later than that and 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

In Elgin the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Elgin may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Elgin it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your parsnip in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Elgin

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 Elgin

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