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

By referring to the USDA zone info for Oak Harbor you should be able to determine when it's the best time to plant parsnip.

Planting Calendar for Parsnip

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

Since parsnip do well in moderate cold you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant parsnip in Oak Harbor 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else 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

In Oak Harbor the average date of last frost happens on March 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Oak Harbor is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Oak Harbor you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your parsnip in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Oak Harbor

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Oak Harbor

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Oak Harbor.