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.

It's possible to estimate when to plant parsnip by checking out the USDA zone info for Newport News.

Planting Calendar for Parsnip

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

Parsnip are moderately cold tolerant which tells us that you can plant them earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant parsnip in Newport News 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 fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your parsnip indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Newport News. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Newport News is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Newport News you get a frost after March 15 be ready to protect your parsnip in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Newport News

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Newport News

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Newport News.