One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

The first chance to plant parsnip in Oregon can be figured out by checking out 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 bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant parsnip in Oregon 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your parsnip indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Oregon the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Oregon is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Oregon last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your parsnip if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Oregon

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 Oregon

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