Growing Beets in Pennsylvania: Soil, Sowing and Bolting
Pennsylvania’s most common mapped soil runs strongly acid and only middling in organic matter, which means most beet beds here need a pH correction and a…
Gardening in Pennsylvania
Everything we have worked out for Pennsylvania: what to plant and when, which varieties finish in time, the pests that actually turn up here, and the jobs that pay off month by month. We also cover the rest of the property, from lawns and soil to home care and energy, because a garden rarely stops at the vegetable bed.
The numbers first, because everything else follows from them. Measured at the weather station in Philadelphia, the last spring freeze runs March 29 to April 6 and the first fall freeze runs November 5 to November 16, USDA zones 5a-7b, 4,116 growing degree days in the year.
Garlic does well: 21.8 weeks below 40 °F, comfortably past the six it needs to form a proper head.
Elsewhere on the property in Pennsylvania: the pests that turn up here.
Figures from NOAA's 1991-2020 climate normals. A state is not one climate: elevation, a large lake or the coast can move these dates by two weeks either way, so check your own county with the extension service before you spend money.
Why Peppers Fail to Set Fruit in Pennsylvania
Pepper plants in Pennsylvania often flower heavily but never turn those flowers into fruit.
When to Plant Potatoes in Pennsylvania: Counting Back From Your Last Frost
Plant potatoes in Pennsylvania 14 to 21 days before your last spring frost date, once the soil hits 50°F.
Harvesting and Storing Potatoes in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania growers generally pull their potato crop before the first fall frost, which arrives between November 5 and November 16 in the Philadelphia…
Potato Varieties That Suit Pennsylvania
The potato varieties that suit Pennsylvania depend on where in the state you garden, not on a single statewide pick.
What to Plant in Pennsylvania in September
September in Pennsylvania still gives gardeners a real planting window. With first fall frost landing between November 5 and November 16 around…
What to Plant in Pennsylvania in October
October in Pennsylvania means garlic goes in the ground, cover crops get sown, and hardy greens move under protection before the first hard frost.
What to Plant in Pennsylvania in November
Garlic cloves and shallots are the main things still going into Pennsylvania ground this month, along with spring bulbs and bare-root trees while the…
What to Plant in Pennsylvania in May
May is the month Pennsylvania gardens turn a corner. Across most of the state, the frost risk that defined March and April has passed or is passing, and…
What to Plant in Pennsylvania in March
Early March in Pennsylvania sits weeks before the last frost across most of the state, so the honest answer is a short list: hardy greens, alliums, and…