One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the 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.

In Stratford you can estimate when it's the best time to 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 are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which means that you can start planting them earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant parsnip in Stratford 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. If you wait any later than that and your parsnip may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your parsnip indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Stratford. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Stratford and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Stratford it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your parsnip in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Stratford

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Stratford

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