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Herb

When to plant Parsley

Computed from land-grant Extension planting-window rules (cited below), localized to real ZIP-level median frost dates, not a single national guess. These are national-generic rules by hardiness class; individual state Extension offices layer their own regional adjustment on top (earlier in the Deep South, later in the Upper Midwest). Enter your ZIP for your own dates, or read the four representative locations below.

Planting windows and crop timing here are computed from USDA/NOAA climate data and the university extension sources cited below, not a site visit or soil test. Treat this as a starting point: local conditions vary, and a local nursery or extension office can advise on your exact site. See our full Disclaimer.

Representative timing, by climate band

When to plant Parsley in four US climates

Each column is the most nursery-dense location in our directory within that USDA zone band, computed from that location's own real median frost dates, not a made-up example.

Stage Zones 1-5 (cold winters)
Fort Plain, NY 		Zones 6-7 (temperate)
McMinnville, TN 		Zones 8-9 (warm)
Apopka, FL 		Zones 10-13 (hot, frost rare or absent)
Loxahatchee, FL
Start seed indoors Mar 11–Mar 25 Feb 10–Feb 24 Dec 30–Jan 13 –
Direct-sow outside Apr 22–May 6 Mar 24–Apr 7 Feb 10–Feb 24 –
Transplant outside Apr 22–May 6 Mar 24–Apr 7 Feb 10–Feb 24 –
Fall planting Not available Not available Not available –
Expected harvest May 25–Jul 20 Apr 26–Jun 21 Mar 15–May 10 –

Zones 10-13 (hot, frost rare or absent) (Loxahatchee, FL): Frost is rare here (about 359 frost-free days a year); most years see little or no hard freeze. This is a semi hardy crop. In climates like this one, hardy and semi-hardy crops typically go in during the cooler months (fall through late winter), not on a frost-relative schedule.

Parsley goes in about two weeks before your last frost. Utah State University Extension places it in its "Semi-Hardy" planting group, timed roughly two weeks ahead of the average last spring frost (Suggested Vegetable Planting Dates for Utah). Start seed indoors six to eight weeks before that transplant date, per NC State Extension's Central North Carolina calendar (AG-756-01).

NC State's own calendar for its region shows a much wider sowing and transplanting window, January through August, than USU's tight two-week rule would suggest. North Carolina's mild winters let growers there start parsley far earlier than the general USU/CSU rule allows; this page uses the narrower window because it travels better across climates than a calendar built for one region's winters. Both figures are real, and neither is wrong for the place it describes.

Harvest runs 33 days for transplants to 75 days from direct seed, per NC State. Parsley is a biennial grown as an annual for its leaves, per Colorado State University Extension, and University of Maryland Extension and Clemson Cooperative Extension both note its cold-hardiness supports fall sowing in milder climates.

At the nursery, parsley is sold both as seed and as started plugs; either works, since it tolerates both direct-sowing and transplanting better than cilantro or dill do.

Frost hardiness

Semi-hardy. Tolerates light frost. Best planted close to the last frost date.

Days to maturity

33–75

Sourcing notes

USU explicitly places parsley in its 'Semi-Hardy' (Group B) class, planted 'about 2 weeks before average last spring frost.' NCSU: seed indoors 6-8 wk before transplant date; DTM T=33 days, S=75 days. NCSU's own Central NC calendar shows a much wider S/T window (Jan-Aug) than USU's -2wk rule -- flagged disagreement: NC's mild winters let growers start parsley far earlier than the general USU/CSU rule would suggest, but -2,0 is used here as the more broadly portable rule. Biennial grown as an annual for leaf harvest (CSU); UMD/Clemson note cold-hardiness supports fall sowing in mild climates.

Related crops

Growing zones for this crop

Nurseries near these locations

Sources