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

In Erie you can determine 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 do well in moderate cold which means that you can plant them earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant parsnip in Erie 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 fully mature. Starting your parsnip indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Erie. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Erie may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Erie there is a last frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your parsnip in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Erie

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 Erie

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