Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Salem can be reviewed to figure out when it's the best time to plant parsnip.

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 mild cold which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant parsnip in Salem 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 fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your parsnip indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Salem. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Salem is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Salem last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your parsnip in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Salem

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Salem

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