Parsley · Kaifeng, Henan, China
When to plant parsley in Kaifeng
Main outdoor window
8-29 Mar
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
22 March
In Kaifeng, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
17 May - 6 Jun
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 Kaifeng
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
25 Jan - 15 Feb
Eight weeks before your last frost, under cover or on a windowsill.
Sow for overwintering
14 Jul - 4 Aug
Counting back 104 days from your first frost so the crop matures in time.
Sow direct
8-29 Mar
Two weeks before your last frost.
Plant out
8-29 Mar
Two weeks before your last frost.
Harvest
17 May - 6 Jun
Parsley through the year
Against the frost risk in Kaifeng
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 Kaifeng.
The median frost-free season here is 240 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 Kaifeng
When should I plant parsley in Kaifeng?
Aim for 8-29 Mar in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 21 Mar - 11 Apr - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will parsley be ready to harvest in Kaifeng?
Expect to start picking around 17 May - 6 Jun, 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.