Regional guide

Philadelphia Area Vegetable Planting Guide

A Penn State Philadelphia-area vegetable guide for April 20 central-city frost timing, later outlying sites, crop windows, and two-week successions.

Climate signals

• The Master Gardeners Philadelphia Planting Guide covers vegetables grown in the Philadelphia area, not a broader Pennsylvania planting calendar.
• All plants are from seed unless noted, so only rows labeled Plants should be treated as transplant-marked source rows.
• The average last frost date for the central parts of the city is April 20.
• Higher and more outlying parts of the Philadelphia area are a week or two later, and the source says to adjust recommended dates for warm weather crops accordingly.

Planning notes

• Mid March to Mid April rows include peas, onions, leeks, greens such as collards, kale, mustard, and turnip, plus turnips and cabbage.
• Late March to Mid May rows include lettuce, radishes, beets, and carrots.
• Late March rows include spinach, Bok Choy, parsley, and Plants: cabbage family such as broccoli and collards, leeks, and onions through Late April.
• Early April to Mid June rows include Swiss chard and beets.
• Mid April to Mid May rows include celery.
• Early May to Mid June warm rows include watermelons, winter squash, melons, summer squash, cucumbers, pumpkins, and Plants: sweet potato.
• Early May to Late June warm rows include okra, Chinese cabbage, sweet corn, peanuts, and lima beans.
• Mid May to Mid July rows include beans for bush, pole, shell, and dried types.
• Mid May warm rows include black eyed peas and Plants: eggplant, peppers, tomato, basil, and gandules through Late June.
• Mid June rows include collards, cabbage family, and celery for the cool reset.
• Early July rows include carrots, beets, Swiss chard, and Plants: cabbage family such as broccoli through Mid August.
• Mid July to September rows include radish and spinach.
• Early August to Early September rows include salad greens, greens such as mustard, and peas.
• Early September rows include Garlic for spring harvest and cover crops: Hairy Vetch, Annual Rye Grass, and Oats through Early October.
• Plant seed every 2 weeks to extend harvest on the starred rows, including lettuce, radishes, beets, carrots, spinach, beans, salad greens, and greens.
• Use these priority catalog links as crop-row examples, not Penn State cultivar recommendations.

Catalog crop examples

These catalog entries match crops covered by the regional timing source; variety-specific details remain tied to each seed entry's own source.

• Sugar Snap Pea Vegetable · Cool · 62 days
• Evergreen Bunching Onion Vegetable · Shoulder · 65 days
• American Flag Leek Vegetable · Cool · 120 days
• Georgia Southern Collards Vegetable · Cool · 65 days
• Lacinato Kale Vegetable · Cool · 60 days
• Southern Giant Curled Mustard Vegetable · Cool · 45 days
• Purple Top White Globe Turnip Vegetable · Cool · 55 days
• Golden Acre Cabbage Vegetable · Cool · 64 days
• Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce Vegetable · Cool · 45 days
• French Breakfast Radish Vegetable · Cool · 28 days
• Detroit Dark Red Beet Vegetable · Cool · 58 days
• Danvers 126 Carrot Vegetable · Shoulder · 70 days
• Bloomsdale Spinach Vegetable · Cool · 42 days
• White Stem Bok Choy Vegetable · Cool · 45 days
• Italian Flat Leaf Parsley Herb · Shoulder · 75 days
• Waltham 29 Broccoli Vegetable · Cool · 74 days
• Bright Lights Swiss Chard Vegetable · Shoulder · 55 days
• Tall Utah Celery Vegetable · Cool · 110 days
• Sugar Baby Watermelon Vegetable · Warm · 80 days
• Waltham Butternut Squash Vegetable · Warm · 95 days
• Delicata Winter Squash Vegetable · Warm · 100 days
• Hale's Best Jumbo Melon Vegetable · Warm · 85 days
• Marketmore 76 Cucumber Vegetable · Warm · 58 days
• Small Sugar Pumpkin Vegetable · Warm · 100 days
• Clemson Spineless Okra Vegetable · Warm · 56 days
• Golden Bantam Sweet Corn Vegetable · Warm · 80 days
• Provider Bush Bean Vegetable · Warm · 50 days
• Black Beauty Eggplant Vegetable · Warm · 80 days
• California Wonder Pepper Vegetable · Warm · 72 days
• Roma Tomato Vegetable · Warm · 76 days
• Genovese Basil Herb · Warm · 68 days
• Hairy Vetch Cover Crop Cover Crop · Cool · 180 days
• Annual Ryegrass Cover Crop Cover Crop · Cool · 60 days
• Spring Oats Cover Crop Cover Crop · Cool · 60 days

Related regional guides

• York County Pennsylvania Frost-Window Garden A York County Pennsylvania frost-window guide for gardeners using Penn State's May 1 last-frost and October 1 first-frost transplanting frame.
• York County Pennsylvania Seed Planting Guide Penn State York County seed guide for May 1 and October 1 frost windows, sowing depth, spacing, germination, and maturity timing.

Source: Penn State Master Gardeners Philadelphia Planting Guide