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.

The USDA zone info for Lake Elmo can be read to determine when you can 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 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 Lake Elmo 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 really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your parsnip indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Lake Elmo the average date of last frost happens on May 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Lake Elmo and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Lake Elmo you get surprised by a frost after May 15 be ready to protect your parsnip if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lake Elmo

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Lake Elmo

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Lake Elmo.