Pennsylvania spans USDA hardiness zones 5b-8a, with a growing season of about 197 frost-free days — a working season long enough for the classics, short enough that timing around frost stays part of the craft.
What the season actually delivers comes down to 36-48 inches of annual rainfall, a median of roughly 2,447 growing-degree days (base 50°F), and about 2,500 winter chill hours for tree fruit. Underfoot it's mostly silt loam, shale-derived, limestone-derived, and glacial till — and how those drain decides more about crop success than almost anything else. Between Appalachia, Northern Tier (north-central Pennsylvania high plateau), and The Poconos, the growing rules shift enough that zone and frost advice only turns precise once you pick your region. The conditions favor apple, tomato, grape, and mountain laurel, among others — though every individual site edits that list with its own soil, sun, and drainage.
Grounded inUSDA PHZM•NOAA Climate Normals•USDA NRCS SSURGO•GDD (PRISM 1991-2020 normals)•Chill hours (PRISM 1991-2020 normals)•USDA hardiness sub-region map•EPA FRS•USDA PLANTS•Growable Ground suitability scoring
Pennsylvania spans zones 5b-8a, but your yard sits in exactly one — and slope, tree cover, and low spots nudge it further. Enter your address and we'll score 1,086 plants against your land's actual soil, sun, and frost.
We read public map data around Pennsylvania — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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Distinct growing regions within Pennsylvania — each has its own zones, soils, and signature crops.
Pennsylvania: USDA zones 5b-8a, 160–250 frost-free days depending on the county, 67 counties.
The middle half of this state’s counties. Tender transplants usually wait 2–3 weeks past the last hard freeze. The shortest-season figure is Pennsylvania's own county record — Potter County's measured 28°F normal, not a modeled floor.
Pennsylvania does not have one growing season. Across all 1938 of its towns that carry their own 30-year record, the shortest measured season is James City's at 151 days and the longest is Chester's at 256 — a 105-day spread inside one state.
Neither end is a lone reading — another 14 towns measure within 10 days of James City and 32 sit within 10 days of Chester. These are real pockets, so the number to plant against is your own town's, not the state average.
NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS (1991–2020), 30-year daily minimum record
Zone 5b-8a is Pennsylvania's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Pennsylvania's 197-day season, see what your own ground reads.
One answer for Pennsylvania averages 67 counties whose growing seasons are 90 days apart — from 160 frost-free days in Potter County to 250 in Philadelphia County. That is the same state, measured the same way, in the same years. Which end of it your county sits nearer decides what finishes before the first hard freeze.
The middle half of 67 counties runs 182–211 days, with a median of 197 days — a 90-day span end to end.
Measured across 67 counties, each carrying its own 28°F normal. NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020, county 28°F killing freeze. A county with no record of its own is absent from the range rather than counted as zero — nothing here is interpolated to the state. Your own site sits somewhere inside this range; a parcel report resolves where.
The middle half of Pennsylvania runs 182–211 frost-free days, and 32 of its 67 counties sit outside that — 16 on the short side, 16 on the long. A statewide planting date describes the middle well and the ends poorly, which is worth knowing before you follow one.
Under 182 frost-free days
16 counties
3 of 16 shown
The end of the state that sets the planting calendar — start seed indoors here and the season stretches to meet the crop.
182–211 frost-free days
35 counties
0 of 35 shown
The middle half of the state, and the part a single statewide date describes well.
Over 211 frost-free days
16 counties
3 of 16 shown
Long enough for a second succession of a quick crop after the first comes out.
Each county is placed by its own 28°F frost-free normal (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020, county 28°F killing freeze), the same figure its own guide page publishes. Elevation, slope and cold-air drainage move a yard within its county as well — which is the part only your address resolves.
The soil types that dominate Pennsylvania — how each drains decides more about crop success than almost anything else. Tap any soil to learn what it is and how to work with it. Each photo is a representative profile of that soil type; the named series is where it was documented, which is often another state.
Drainage
Moderate. Silt holds water well and releases it steadily, though the fine particles can crust after hard rain and compact under traffic.
What thrives
The full vegetable garden does well here, and small grains, corn, and leafy greens are classic silt-loam crops. Its steady moisture suits shallow-rooted plants that dislike drought stress.
Soil weathered from shale — compressed ancient mud that splits into thin plates. It breaks down into clayey, often channery ground littered with flat rock fragments.
Drainage
Two-natured: the clay fraction holds water while the shale fragments and fractured bedrock open channels, so hillside shale soils often drain better than their texture suggests.
What thrives
Orchards and vineyards have long favored shale hillsides — the drainage and the heat the rock holds suit deep roots. Brambles, asparagus, and hardy perennials establish well.
Drainage
Good to fast: fractured limestone under the soil carries water away quickly, and shallow profiles dry sooner than deep ones.
What thrives
Lime-loving plants prosper — lavender, thyme, sage, brassicas, beets, figs, and wine grapes have limestone pedigrees worldwide. Many native wildflowers of glade and prairie are limestone specialists.
Drainage
Variable by the shovelful. Sandy till drains freely; dense, compacted till (hardpan) can perch water above it after snowmelt and heavy rain.
What thrives
Apples, stone fruits, brambles, and the whole northern vegetable garden do well on till — much of New England and the upper Midwest farms it. Deep-rooted perennials work through the stony structure happily.
Soil data: USDA NRCS SSURGO · Soil types explained
Plants well-suited to Pennsylvania's climate, soils, and growing season — each links to its full growing profile.
Rarely: the season closes in stages, not all at once, and each stage has its crops. Across Pennsylvania, cool-season planting typically opens about four weeks before the local last hard freeze — county medians put that freeze near Apr 14, with the middle half of counties between Apr 6 and Apr 24 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals). Tender transplants wait two to three weeks past it, and fall planting counts back from first freezes mostly between Oct 25 and Nov 3 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. Late in the year the fall bench takes over — quick greens, radishes, and garlic that repays you next summer.
The plants Pennsylvania put its name on — cultural emblems, not growing recommendations.
Kalmia latifolia
Designated 1933. In our plant library — see its full growing profile.
Tsuga canadensis
Designated 1931. In our plant library — see its full growing profile.
Plants the USDA PLANTS Database documents as native and present in Pennsylvania — a real per-state range, not just a zone match. Ordered by how closely each plant’s published hardiness range matches Pennsylvania’s zones 5b-8a, so this is a shortlist by climate fit, not a ranking of which plants matter most here. Presence is statewide, so a plant may still be uncommon in your specific county; your state’s Cooperative Extension or a native-plant society is the local authority.
US-native plants whose hardiness range overlaps Pennsylvania’s USDA zones 5b-8a but which USDA PLANTS doesn’t map to a single state range here. Zone overlap is a starting filter, not a range map.
What an experienced grower plans around here — each one has a move.
Rocky shale soils in the ridge-and-valley region
Build up over shale rather than into it — raised beds with imported soil give roots depth the ridge won't.
Short mountain seasons in the Poconos and Alleghenies
Mountain growers stretch the season with cold frames and fast varieties — the missing weeks are recoverable.
Deer pressure is among the highest in the US
In the hardest-hit deer country, a tall fence is the only reliable line — resistant plants cover the rest.
For cultivar selection, pest pressure, and planting-time guidance specific to Pennsylvania, the Penn State Extension is the authoritative local source.
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.
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.
Everything above resolves to Pennsylvania as a whole — a state whose own counties record seasons 90 days apart, and hardiness across zones 5b-8a. Your parcel sits at one point in that range, not in the middle of it. Slope, tree cover, a low spot that pools cold air, and what is in the soil are all resolved at the address, and none of them are visible at state scale. That is the honest boundary of this page, and the reason the next step is a reading of your own ground rather than a better statewide average.
State averages sketch the shape. Your soil, sun exposure, drainage, and microclimate decide what actually takes. Pull a site-specific report for your exact parcel.
Enter your address. We read your soil, sun, drainage, and frost dates, then score 1,086 plants against the real conditions on your land.
Three things about your lot that Pennsylvania 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 average
The datasets: hardiness from the USDA ARS Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023, read per county and aggregated to the state band; the growing season from NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS 1991–2020 28°F normals, read at each county’s own record; rainfall from NOAA Climate Normals; soils from USDA NRCS SSURGO; boundaries from US Census TIGER/Line 2025; the contamination record from the federal sources named in that beat above. Where a county carries no record of its own, it is absent from the figure rather than filled in.
Pennsylvania spans USDA hardiness zones 5b-8a — which is to say winter's coldest night runs from about −15°F to 15°F depending where in Pennsylvania you are, averaged over 1991–2020 (USDA PHZM 2023).
Rarely: the season closes in stages, not all at once, and each stage has its crops. Across Pennsylvania, cool-season planting typically opens about four weeks before the local last hard freeze — county medians put that freeze near Apr 14, with the middle half of counties between Apr 6 and Apr 24 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals). Tender transplants wait two to three weeks past it, and fall planting counts back from first freezes mostly between Oct 25 and Nov 3 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. Late in the year the fall bench takes over — quick greens, radishes, and garlic that repays you next summer.
Across Pennsylvania, the middle half of counties see their last hard freeze (28°F) between about Apr 6 and Apr 24, with a county median near Apr 14 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals). That marks the hard freeze, not the last light frost — lighter frosts keep biting past it, which is why tender transplants here wait until about May 5.
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, growing seasons across Pennsylvania's counties mostly run about 183 to 211 days, with a county median near 197 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals). Tender crops get a somewhat shorter practical window, since lighter frosts reach a few weeks past the hard-freeze dates on both ends.
Pennsylvania's zones 5b-8a support a wide range — strong performers include Apple, Tomato, Grape, Mountain Laurel, and Mushroom. What actually takes on any one site comes down to its soil, sun, and drainage, and we score each plant against the real conditions at your address.
Officially, Pennsylvania spans USDA zones 5b-8a (USDA PHZM 2023) — but a zone is a 30-year average of winter's coldest night across an area, and it can't see any one yard. A south-facing slope, a tree line, or a low frost pocket can shift a single site by half a zone either way, which is why neighboring gardeners often quote different numbers. We read the conditions at your exact address — soil, sun, slope, and frost — and score 1,086 plants against what's actually there.
The federal record across Pennsylvania runs heavier than most — 68,671 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (32,436) — so test the soil before planting food in the ground, and raised beds with clean imported soil grow well in the meantime. Even here, proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis of any one yard; the contamination map shows exactly what's recorded and where.
Start with three facts. Pennsylvania spans USDA zones 5b-8a, which sets what survives winter; last hard freezes range from about Apr 6 to Apr 24 across its counties (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and 68,671 documented sites sit on the federal record here, so a soil test before food beds is the smart first step. From there, matching plants to your actual soil and sun is the fun part.
Everything above is measured at Pennsylvania's scale — its 5b-8a band and its 197-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Pennsylvania's numbers: we read soil, sun, drainage and frost at your exact address. Try it for 14 days — no card required.
6 of the readings below were taken at Pennsylvania's own scale — the full zone 5b-8a span inside its borders, the 4 soil types that dominate its ground and 68,671 documented sites on its federal record; anything it cannot resolve at this scale is named below.
Measured here
What this page can’t tell you
Explore growing conditions by county — each has its own zone range and land area.
Explore growing conditions by city or town in Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania shares its dominant growing region with these states — a useful comparison if you're weighing where a crop will behave the same way.
