Gardening in an Age of Climate Change

Susan Phillips

Recent Stories

Susan Phillips tells stories about the consequences of political decisions on people's every day lives. She has worked as a reporter for WHYY since 2004. Susan's coverage of the 2008 Presidential election resulted in a story on the front page of the New York Times. In 2010 she traveled to Haiti to cover the earthquake. That same year she produced an award-winning series on Pennsylvania's natural gas rush called "The Shale Game." She received a 2013 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Journalism Award for her work covering natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania. She has also won several Edward R. Murrow awards for her work with StateImpact. In 2013/14 she spent a year at MIT as a Knight Science Journalism Fellow. She has also been a Metcalf Fellow, an MBL Logan Science Journalism Fellow and reported from Marrakech on the 2016 climate talks as an International Reporting Project Fellow. A graduate of Columbia School of Journalism, she earned her Bachelor's degree in International Relations from George Washington University.

April 22, 2013 | 3:52 PM

It’s Earth Day, which means different things to different people. For Gov. Corbett, it’s a day to hand out more than $300,000 to 92 separate groups and schools to do environmental education. As a reporter my inbox fills up with everything from “Insurance Companies Eat Green,” (waste-free picnics) to an industry explanation of the “Tremendous Environmental Benefits” of natural gas development. For a good discussion on the history and impact of Earth Day, check out WHYY’s Marty Moss-Coane interview with Adam Rome, author of The Genius of Earth Day.
For many, Earth Day is a reminder that if you haven’t planned your garden, you better start. And due in part to climate change, putting the first shovel in the ground starts earlier now for many Pennsylvania residents.

USDA

Plant Hardiness Map for Pennsylvania.

In 2012, the U.S. Department of Agriculture published an updated Plant Hardiness Map, which divides the country into zones. The zones are based on an average yearly minimum winter temperature, and are used to determine which plants will thrive. Pennsylvania used to be split 50/50 between zones 6 and 5. But now, the map shows significantly more of the state in the warmer zone 6. And the southeast corner of Pennsylvania, along with parts of York County, are actually zone 7, a growing season similar to parts of North and South Carolina.