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.

The first chance to plant parsnip in Zone 5b can be estimated 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 some cold which means that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant parsnip in Zone 5b 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. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your parsnip indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Zone 5b. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Zone 5b is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Zone 5b you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your parsnip in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 5b

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°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 -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 5b

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 5b.