One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

A common way of figuring out when to plant parsnip is to check out the USDA zone info for Park Forest.

Planting Calendar for Parsnip

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

Parsnip can survive in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant parsnip in Park Forest 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 grow to maturity. Starting your parsnip indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Park Forest. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Park Forest is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Park Forest there is a last frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your parsnip in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Park Forest

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 Park Forest

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Park Forest.