Parsley · Datong, Shanxi, China
When to plant parsley in Datong
Main outdoor window
21 Apr - 12 May
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
5 May
In Datong, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
30 Jun - 20 Jul
If you plant at the start of the window.
The average last frost. Half of all years are later than this.
Step by step in Datong
Each window is a range, not a single day. Earlier in the range buys you a longer season; later in it buys you a safer one.
Start indoors
10-31 Mar
Eight weeks before your last frost, under cover or on a windowsill.
Sow direct
21 Apr - 12 May
Two weeks before your last frost.
Plant out
21 Apr - 12 May
Two weeks before your last frost.
Harvest
30 Jun - 20 Jul
Parsley through the year
Against the frost risk in Datong
Why these dates
Germination takes three to four weeks. Sow indoors eight weeks before last frost or direct once soil warms; either way, patience is required.
Survives -10C and often overwinters to produce an early spring crop before running to seed in its second year.
Seed packets and extension guides express timing as weeks either side of the last spring frost, because that is the only reference point that travels. Parsley are timed from 8 weeks before that frost for an indoor start, with planting out 2 weeks before it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Datong.
The median frost-free season here is 150 days, against 70 to 90 days to maturity for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Growing parsley in Datong
When should I plant parsley in Datong?
Aim for 21 Apr - 12 May in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 1-22 May - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will parsley be ready to harvest in Datong?
Expect to start picking around 30 Jun - 20 Jul, based on 70 to 90 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will parsley tolerate?
Survives -10C and often overwinters to produce an early spring crop before running to seed in its second year.