One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Sauk Rapids you can figure out when you can plant parsnip by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Parsnip

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

Parsnip do ok in mild cold which means 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 Sauk Rapids 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. Starting your parsnip indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Sauk Rapids is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Sauk Rapids last frost occurs after May 15 be ready to protect your parsnip in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sauk Rapids

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 Sauk Rapids

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Sauk Rapids.