One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your 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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Herrin you should be able to estimate when it's a good idea to plant parsnip.

Planting Calendar for Parsnip

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

You can plant parsnip a little bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant parsnip in Herrin 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. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your parsnip indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Herrin. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Herrin may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Herrin you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your parsnip if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Herrin

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Herrin

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