A cold-tolerant biennial grown as an annual, producing dense, ruffled leaves with a clean, grassy flavor suited to both cooking and garnish.
Petroselinum crispum var. crispum · also called curly-leaf parsley, common parsley
Windows are counted from the average date of your last spring frost.
Curly parsley is one of the most cold-tolerant culinary herbs, producing usable leaves from spring through hard autumn frosts. A single plant cut regularly will supply a household for months without replanting.
A little history. A biennial native to the central Mediterranean region, parsley produces only a leaf rosette in its first year; it flowers and sets seed in its second year, after which the leaves become bitter and the plant declines.
Sow seeds ¼ inch (6 mm) deep, and aim for 9 inches (25 cm) between plants once thinned. Sow ¼ inch deep and keep the seedbed evenly moist; do not let the surface crust or dry out — parsley germinates slowly and a dry crust will abort emergence. Seedlings emerge in 14–28 days.
Either works well — needs at least 8 inches of soil depth for the taproot to develop properly. In containers: 1-gallon pot minimum; 2-gallon preferred for sustained harvest.
Water deeply when the top inch of soil feels dry; roughly twice a week in warm weather. Water when the top inch of soil feels dry to the touch. Aim for about 1 inch per week including rain.
Side-dress (scatter fertilizer along the row and water in) once at planting and again 6 weeks later. What to use: balanced compost or a 5–5-5 organic granular fertilizer.
Cut outer stems at the base rather than snipping leaf tips — this keeps the plant producing new growth from the center. Remove any yellowing or damaged stems promptly.
It's ready when harvest once stems carry at least three leaf segments and the plant has at least 8–10 stems total; outer stems are ready before inner ones. Cut individual outer stems at the base with scissors or a sharp knife, leaving the inner rosette intact to continue growing. Never remove more than one-third of the plant at a single harvest.
Stand cut stems upright in a glass with 1 inch of water, loosely covered, in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks; or dry or freeze chopped leaves for longer storage.
Sow a second batch 4–6 weeks after the first to maintain a continuous supply; a late-summer sowing will carry through autumn and often overwinter in mild areas.
In areas with mild winters, plants survive to produce a flush of spring growth before bolting in their second year; mulch the crown with 2–3 inches of straw once hard frost threatens.
Tomato
A parsley plant left to flower in its second year opens flat clusters of tiny blooms that feed hoverflies and small parasitic wasps, and those insects often reduce aphid numbers on nearby tomatoes.
Asparagus
Gardeners have long tucked parsley along the edge of an asparagus bed, where it fills open ground between crowns. No mechanism has been demonstrated, so keep it at the row edge to avoid disturbing asparagus roots when you pull spent plants.
Chives
Carrot fly finds its hosts largely by smell, and the sharp onion scent of a chive clump can help hide a young parsley row under low pest pressure. Treat it as a supplement to fine insect mesh, not a replacement.
Carrot
Old charts keep these carrot-family cousins side by side because they want the same loose, evenly moist soil. Be aware they also share carrot fly and leaf spot, so cover both with the same mesh and give each its full spacing.
Rose
Parsley is said to protect roses from aphids, a pairing repeated in cottage-garden books without supporting trials. The one real benefit comes later: if you let a plant flower, its blooms draw in hoverflies and ladybugs that do eat aphids.
Fennel
Fennel roots release substances that stunt most garden vegetables, parsley included, so keep it out of the same bed. Grown well apart in its own corner, its flowers feed hoverflies and tiny parasitic wasps and earn their place.
Spearmint
Spearmint spreads by runners and will overrun a slow-starting parsley sowing within a season. Grow mint in a sunken pot or a separate container rather than trying to share the bed.
Give the carrot family 3 years away from this spot before any of its relatives return.
The pea and bean family, the cabbage family or the onion family thrive in this ground next season.
Parsley is a light feeder and leaves the bed close to how it found it, minus a deep taproot channel. Keep carrot-family crops such as carrots, dill, celery, and parsnip off this ground for 3 years. Follow with peas or beans, then a cabbage-family or onion crop.
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