The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant parsley is to refer to the USDA zone info for Normal.

Planting Calendar for Parsley

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

Parsley do well in moderate cold which means that you can get them planted earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant parsley in Normal 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your parsley may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your parsley indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Normal 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.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Normal may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Normal there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your parsley if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Normal

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 Normal

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