When to Plant Parsnip in Caribou, ME

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.

It's possible to determine when you can plant parsnip by using the USDA zone info for Caribou.


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 earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

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

The earliest that you can plant parsnip in Caribou is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant parsnip and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your parsnip may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your parsnip indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Caribou the average date of last frost happens on May 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -30°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Caribou may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Caribou it frosts late in the year after May 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your parsnip if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Caribou

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)September 15
Lowest Expected Low-30°F
Highest Expected Low-25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -25°F.

Plants to Grow in Caribou

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