One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The best time to plant parsnip in Philadelphia can be estimated 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.

Since parsnip are moderately cold tolerant 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 Philadelphia 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 couple of weeks earlier by starting your parsnip indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Philadelphia and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Philadelphia you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your parsnip in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Philadelphia

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 Philadelphia

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