Unlikely — Zone Mismatch
Muraina grass (zones 9-12) does not overlap with Pennsylvania's zone range (5b-8a). Growing outdoors is unlikely without significant protection.
2 zones short — what would close it
Muraina Grass is hardy to zone 9, and the warmest ground in Pennsylvania is zone 7 — 2 zones short. Planted in open ground it will not survive a Pennsylvania winter. To grow it here, grow muraina grass in an earth-sheltered greenhouse — its modeled 2.5-zone lift covers this gap.
An earth-sheltered greenhouse is the lift this needs. How a greenhouse changes what you can grow →
Zone math from 9-12 (plant) against 5-7 (Pennsylvania). Lift modeled by crop_engine.GREENHOUSE_ZONE_MODIFIER_BY_SUBTYPE['earth_sheltered'] (+2.5 zones) via api/fast_sections.py Unlock Engine v2.
Muraina Grass in Pennsylvania — the short answer
Muraina Grass in Pennsylvania: hardy in zones 9–12, full sun, against a state median of ~197 frost-free days.
- Plant zones
- 9-12
- Manual horticultural correction (source not retained); NC State Extension and Missouri Botanical Garden, with the remaining rows from other published sources or Growable Ground compilation
- Pennsylvania zones
- 5b-8a
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Frost window
- Apr 6 - Apr 24 – Oct 25 - Nov 3
- NOAA RCC ACIS 1991-2020, 28°F
- Shortest county season
- 160 days
- NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020, county 28°F killing freeze
Plant data: Growable Ground Plant Database, compiled from FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS and university Extension sources — per-field provenance varies and is published with the dataset.
Your yard isn't the whole zone.
Pennsylvania spans zones 5b-8a, but your yard sits in exactly one — and slope, tree cover, and cold-air pockets nudge it further. Enter your address and we'll score muraina grass against your parcel's actual hardiness, soil, and sun.
We read public map data for this spot — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
No card required · your full report in seconds
Pennsylvania is not one climate
Pennsylvania’s winter-low ladder runs across 67 counties, from zone 5.5 in Cambria County to zone 7.5 in Philadelphia County. That is 20°F between the two counties’ average coldest night — the difference between muraina grass overwintering in the ground and coming under cover.
The middle half of 67 counties runs 6–7 zones, with a median of 6.5 zones — a 2-zone span end to end.
Measured across 67 Pennsylvania counties. USDA PHZM 2023, per county. Quartiles are order statistics — every figure shown is a value a real county recorded, not an interpolation. Your own site sits somewhere inside this range; a parcel report resolves where.
Where Muraina Grass Stands in Pennsylvania
Muraina Grass is rated for zones 9–12 — a cold floor USDA puts at 20 to 30°F. No Pennsylvania county sits inside it, so in open ground this is a grown-under-cover plant here rather than a bed plant — which is a statement about Pennsylvania winters, not about muraina grass.
Below the zone 9 floor
67 counties
- Cambria County · zone 5b
- Cameron County · zone 5b
- Elk County · zone 5b
3 of 67 shown
Winter cold is the limit here — the same plant works in a container that comes under cover.
County hardiness zones: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM) 2023, per county. A zone is a 10°F band of average annual extreme minimum temperature, so the floor above is the band the plant's rating denotes, not a single measured kill point. Slope, shelter and cold-air drainage routinely move a site half a zone either way from its county figure — which is the part only your address resolves.
Zone Comparison
Muraina Grass Needs
- USDA Zones: 9-12
- Frost-Free Days: 175+
- Sun: Full Sun
Pennsylvania Has
- USDA Zones: 5b-8a
- Last Hard Freeze (28°F): Apr 6 - Apr 24
- First Hard Freeze (28°F): Oct 25 - Nov 3
- Annual Rainfall: 36-48 inches
- Common Soils: Silt loam, Shale-derived, Limestone-derived
Plant Zone Range (zones 9-12)
Preferred Soil pH
Plant data: Growable Ground Plant Database, compiled from FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS, and university Extension sources — per-field provenance varies and is published with the dataset. State data: USDA ARS PHZM 2023, NOAA Climate Normals, NRCS SSURGO.
When to Plant Muraina Grass in Pennsylvania
The frost window
Across Pennsylvania, the last spring hard freeze (28°F) clears between Apr 6 and Apr 24, and the first fall hard freeze lands between Oct 25 and Nov 3 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). Counting from the latest last freeze to the earliest first freeze, that's a 184-day window you can count on — up to 211 days on a mild site in a kind year. That marks the hard freeze, not the last light frost, so tender transplants usually wait another 2-3 weeks.
Winter standing
Pennsylvania runs as cold as USDA zone 5, and no sourced winter-hardiness floor is on record for muraina grass, so this page does not state whether it overwinters here — and gives no fall establishment date on the strength of a guess. Whether muraina grass is a permanent planting or a replant-every-spring crop for you turns on your own zone within Pennsylvania; check its hardiness range against that before treating it as long-lived ground.
Timing tuned to sub-state frost dates — Potter County, not the statewide average.
Frost window: NOAA Climate Normals 1991-2020. Plant timing fields: Growable Ground Plant Database — frost-free days from FAO ECOCROP, days to harvest from university Extension production guides, and growing-degree-day and chill-hour minimums that are compilation estimates rather than published figures. Your site's own frost dates can run earlier or later than the state range — a parcel report pins them down.
Growing Season Fit
The zone check says muraina grass does not survive a Pennsylvania winter in the ground. The season figures below measure a different question — whether it could finish a season here at all — and they only bear on Pennsylvania under protection.
Frost-free days
Muraina Grass wants 175+ frost-free days; a typical Pennsylvania site sees ~197 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). That leaves a workable window — start indoors to bank time.
GDD and chill-hour figures are computed from PRISM 1991-2020 monthly climate normals; frost-free days from NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020. Each is the state median across its counties (P25/P75 span the within-state spread). Hardiness-zone range is USDA PHZM 2023.
Soil + Drainage Fit
Muraina Grass tolerates a wide pH range (pH 4-7) — 3 units, acid ground through alkaline — so soil acidity is rarely what limits it in Pennsylvania. A soil test is still worth having, but for what else it tells you about this site, not to clear this plant. It will grow across that whole span, but it does best between pH 4.5 and 5.5 — worth knowing before you decide whether a Pennsylvania soil test result is a problem or just a number. Drainage requirement: poorly (saturated >50% of year). A soil-survey lookup (NRCS SSURGO) flags whether your specific site matches.
Your land, not the state average
Pennsylvania's soils run mostly silt loam, but SSURGO maps the series, texture, and drainage under your exact parcel. Muraina Grass needs about 19 inches of workable depth, so it is that horizon — not the surface — you are testing for. That map unit, not the state average, decides how muraina grass performs.
Check your parcel → Source: USDA NRCS SSURGO.
Plant pH requirements: FAO ECOCROP and USDA PLANTS, with the remaining rows from other published sources or Growable Ground compilation. Drainage: FAO ECOCROP, with the remaining rows from other published sources or Growable Ground compilation. Pennsylvania soil profile from USDA NRCS SSURGO. Site-specific verification: a 30-minute soil test from your local Extension lab.
Before you plant muraina grass for food
Anything you grow to eat takes up what is in the ground it grows in, so what is on record near you is worth knowing before muraina grass goes in. What follows is Pennsylvania’s documented federal record at state scale — a screening signal, not a soil test, and not a statement about any one lot.
Safe to Grow Here?
What the federal record shows across Pennsylvania — and how to grow with it.
We checked the federal record across Pennsylvania — 68,671 documented sites across 8 of the 9 source types we track.
The most significant on record: 393 Superfund sites. Sites tracked in EPA's Superfund program — from assessment-stage CERCLIS entries to confirmed National Priorities List cleanup sites.
Pennsylvania carries one of the heavier federal records we track — and that's not a verdict on your yard. Proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis: nothing here says any particular parcel is affected. It does earn one concrete step — before food beds go in the ground, a professional soil test tells you exactly what you're working with, and raised beds with clean imported soil grow well almost anywhere in the meantime.
Sources Checked
across Pennsylvania
Severity Distribution
across Pennsylvania
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Pennsylvania, CAFO runs higher than the national average — 642 sites across Pennsylvania. Knowing it is half the work — and it's nothing a thoughtful grower can't plan for.
CAFO: CAFOs pose a different contamination profile than chemical sources.
Wash all produce consumed raw thoroughly, especially leafy greens grown near CAFOs.
Sources: EPA, USGS — 1.8M documented sites tracked nationwide across 9 federal source types.
What Else to Consider for Muraina Grass in Pennsylvania
Zone compatibility tells you about winter cold survival — but Pennsylvania growers also need to think about:
Rocky shale soils in the ridge-and-valley region
Short mountain seasons in the Poconos and Alleghenies
Deer pressure is among the highest in the US
Growing muraina grass here specifically
Muraina Grass needs pH 4.0–7.0; Pennsylvania's dominant silt loam soils may or may not deliver that, so your parcel's SSURGO map unit is the real test.
Start with a soil test on your own ground and adjust pH and texture to fit muraina grass's 4.0–7.0 range. How to handle it →
What to actually do about these — and the constraints that apply to every Pennsylvania grower, not just muraina grass — is covered on the Pennsylvania growing guide.
Timing shifts within Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania isn't one climate. In Potter County, the last hard freeze (28°F) holds until about May 5 — roughly 21 days later than the recorded state median — so plant muraina grass to your county's window, not the statewide date.
Muraina Grass needs about 175 days of frost-free season to complete its cycle. 55 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties give it that outright. The tightest that does is Bradford County at 178 frost-free days — 3 to spare. Below that line you are transplanting or extending the season, not direct-sowing.
Across Pennsylvania’s 67 counties the frost-free season runs from 160 days in Potter County to 250 days in Philadelphia County — a spread of 90 days, which is why a single statewide planting date misleads. The median Pennsylvania county sees 197 frost-free days, leaving muraina grass about 22 days of slack on a typical parcel — room for a second sowing where the season runs long.
County last-freeze dates and frost-free day counts: NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS (1991-2020), county 28°F freeze (earlier than the folk 32°F "last frost"). Muraina Grass's 175-day requirement: USDA PLANTS / Growable Ground plant database (minimum frost-free days). A parcel report resolves your address's own frost dates.
Pennsylvania Cooperative Extension
For Pennsylvania-specific cultivar recommendations, planting calendars, and pest pressure for muraina grass, the canonical source is Penn State Extension. Their fact sheets carry the local trial data we can't generalize across 50 states.
Is Muraina Grass native to Pennsylvania?
No — the USDA PLANTS Database lists Muraina Grass as introduced rather than native in the Lower 48, so it is not part of Pennsylvania's native flora. It grows here as a garden plant; pairing it with a few Pennsylvania natives keeps local pollinators fed too.
Looking for plants that belong here? The Pennsylvania growing guide lists USDA-documented natives for the state.
Native-range data: USDA PLANTS Database state-distribution records, accessed 2026-07-01.
Common Questions About Growing Muraina Grass in Pennsylvania
When can I plant Muraina Grass in Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania's last spring hard freeze (28°F) clears between Apr 6 and Apr 24, and the first fall hard freeze lands between Oct 25 and Nov 3 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). No sourced winter-hardiness floor is on record for Muraina Grass, so this page does not state whether it overwinters in Pennsylvania and publishes no fall establishment date for it — check its hardiness range against your own zone before treating it as a permanent planting.
What hardiness zone is Muraina Grass grown in across Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania spans USDA hardiness zones 5b-8a (USDA ARS PHZM 2023). Muraina Grass carries a range of zones 9-12, so the overlap zones are where outdoor growing is most reliable.
How many frost-free days does a typical Pennsylvania site have?
A typical Pennsylvania site sees ~197 frost-free days per year (derived from NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). Muraina Grass needs 175+ frost-free days, so check whether your local microclimate runs above or below the state average before settling on a planting date. In cooler counties like Potter, the freeze-free season runs shorter than the state average, so verify your own county's window.
Is Muraina Grass native to Pennsylvania?
No — the USDA PLANTS Database lists Muraina Grass as introduced rather than native in the Lower 48, so it is not part of Pennsylvania's native flora. It grows here as a garden plant; pairing it with a few Pennsylvania natives keeps local pollinators fed too.
How should I amend the soil for Muraina Grass in Pennsylvania?
Muraina Grass tolerates pH 4-7 and poorly (saturated >50% of year) drainage (FAO ECOCROP). That is a 3-unit span, acid ground through alkaline, so pH is rarely what limits this plant on a Pennsylvania site — amend for drainage and organic matter first.
Will Muraina Grass actually grow on my specific land in Pennsylvania?
State-level zone + climate data is a sketch. A Growable Ground parcel report scores muraina grass against your address's exact soil pH, drainage, sun, and frost-date data drawn from USDA SSURGO, NOAA, and PRISM — not state averages.
Check your specific parcel in Pennsylvania
State-level data is a sketch. Your Growable Ground report scores muraina grass against your parcel's exact soil, sun, drainage, and frost data — not zone averages.
Three things about your lot that Pennsylvania muraina grass averages can't show:
We read public map data around Pennsylvania — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Pennsylvania muraina grass average
Explore More
Growing guides for muraina grass
Explore Pennsylvania county by county
Pennsylvania carries 67 counties with their own USDA zone — a sample of the growing pages for muraina grass there:
Where else muraina grass grows
Muraina Grass's zone band crosses state lines — these are the states closest to Pennsylvania in winter climate where it also has a page, plus the far ends of its range. Each one re-answers the question with that state's own record.
More to grow in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania has a growing page for 893 plants — a rotating sample of the rest of the shelf.
Analysis by the Growable Ground research team, grounded in USDA PLANTS, USDA NRCS SSURGO, NOAA Climate Normals (1991-2020), and named Cooperative Extension sources. How we know →
Cite this dataset
Kirchick, M. (2026). Growable Ground Plant Database [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21435643
Licensed CC BY-NC 4.0. DOI 10.5281/zenodo.21435643
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