Best way to parse select_date helper?

If i have a select_date in my view like this :

select_date @end_date,:prefix=>“end_date”

Then I parse it as follows in the controller:

@end_date =
Time.parse(params[“start_date”][:day]+"-"+params[“start_date”][:month]+"-"+params[“start_date”][:year]).to_date

This somehow doesn’t seem right. What is the best method to do it?

Thanks
Chris