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.

It's possible to estimate when you can plant parsnip by checking out the USDA zone info for Bismarck.

Planting Calendar for Parsnip

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

Parsnip are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which tells us that you can start planting them earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant parsnip in Bismarck 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. If you wait any later than that and your parsnip may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your parsnip indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Bismarck is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Bismarck there is a last frost after May 15 so always be ready to protect your parsnip in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Bismarck

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 Bismarck

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