Parsnips planting calendar
When to plant parsnips — pick your state
Parsnips timing swings hard by climate — choose your state for sow, transplant, and harvest dates calibrated to its USDA zone and frost window.
Northeast
Southeast
Midwest
Southwest
West
Pacific
Not listed: Hawaii — the dominant climate zone there is outside parsnips's practical range, so a generic calendar would mislead more than it helps.
Common questions
When should I plant parsnips?
Parsnips are direct-sown only — their long taproot makes transplanting impractical. Sow direct 2–4 weeks before the last spring frost once soil reaches at least 7 °C; germination is notoriously slow (14–28 days) and patchy below 10 °C, so fresh seed and even moisture are essential. Flavour peaks after the first hard frost (below -2 °C) converts starches to sugars, making autumn and early-winter harvests far sweeter than summer pulls; zones 7–10 can leave roots in the ground through winter for successive harvests. Because the right window depends on your local frost dates, pick your US state above for a calendar with exact sow, transplant, and harvest dates.
Does the best time to plant parsnips vary by state?
Yes — planting dates swing by several weeks across the US because each state sits in a different USDA zone with its own frost window. Every state page here gives parsnips dates calibrated to that state's climate.
How are these parsnips planting dates calculated?
Each state's dates come from that state's dominant USDA hardiness zone and NOAA average frost dates, then adjusted for parsnips's cold tolerance and days to maturity.