The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of figuring out when to plant parsnip is to refer to the USDA zone info for Elmira.

Planting Calendar for Parsnip

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

Parsnip tend to make it in moderate cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant parsnip in Elmira 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. Any later than that and 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

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Elmira. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Elmira and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Elmira you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your parsnip if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Elmira

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Elmira

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