Unlikely — Zone Mismatch
apricot (zones 5-9) does not overlap with North Dakota's zone range (3b-4b). Growing outdoors is unlikely without significant protection.
Apricot in North Dakota — the short answer
Apricot in North Dakota: hardy in zones 5–9, full sun.
- Plant zones
- 5-9
- Rated hardy to zone 5a by NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox, checked Oct 2026. Ceiling: not verified.
- North Dakota zones
- 3b-4b
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Frost window
- Apr 30 - May 6 – Oct 4 - Oct 9
- NOAA RCC ACIS 1991-2020, 28°F
- Shortest county season
- 141 days
- NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020, county 28°F killing freeze
- To first harvest
- ~3 years
- Growable Ground Plant Database
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.
North Dakota spans zones 3b-4b, 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 apricot 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 parcel report in seconds — read in full free for your first 14 days
North Dakota is not one climate
North Dakota’s winter-low ladder runs across 53 counties, from zone 3.5 in Bottineau County to zone 4.5 in Stutsman County. That is 10°F between the two counties’ average coldest night — the difference between apricot overwintering in the ground and coming under cover.
The middle half of 53 counties runs 4–4 zones, with a median of 4 zones — a 1-zone span end to end.
Measured across 53 North Dakota 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 Apricot Stands in North Dakota
Apricot is rated for zones 5–9 — a cold floor USDA puts at -20 to -10°F. No North Dakota 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 North Dakota winters, not about apricot.
Below the zone 5 floor
53 counties
- Bottineau County · zone 3b
- Cavalier County · zone 3b
- Divide County · zone 3b
3 of 53 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
Apricot Needs
- USDA Zones: 5-9
- Sun: Full Sun
- Mature size: 25 ft tallWe haven't confirmed this against a published source yet.
- Picking window: ~60 days of harvestWe haven't confirmed this against a published source yet.
- Drought tolerance: MediumWe haven't confirmed this against a published source yet.
North Dakota Has
- USDA Zones: 3b-4b
- Last Hard Freeze (28°F): Apr 30 - May 6
- First Hard Freeze (28°F): Oct 4 - Oct 9
- Annual Rainfall: 14-22 inches
- Common Soils: Prairie loam, Clay (Red River Valley), Sandy loam
Plant Zone Range (zones 5-9)
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 Apricot in North Dakota
The frost window
Across North Dakota, the last spring hard freeze (28°F) clears between Apr 30 and May 6, and the first fall hard freeze lands between Oct 4 and Oct 9 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). Counting from the latest last freeze to the earliest first freeze, that's a 151-day window you can count on — up to 162 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
North Dakota runs as cold as USDA zone 3, and no sourced winter-hardiness floor is on record for apricot, so this page does not state whether it overwinters here — and gives no fall establishment date on the strength of a guess. Whether apricot is a permanent planting or a replant-every-spring crop for you turns on your own zone within North Dakota; check its hardiness range against that before treating it as long-lived ground.
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 apricot does not survive a North Dakota 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 North Dakota under protection.
Growing degree days
Apricot needs ~1800 GDD (base 50°F) to ripen. We haven't confirmed this against a published source yet. The state median runs ~1913 GDD (from PRISM 1991-2020 climate normals), so North Dakota sits right at the threshold — pay attention to siting and microclimate.
Chill hours
Apricot requires ~800 chill hours (32-45°F dormancy window). North Dakota typically banks ~2500 chill hours per winter (from PRISM 1991-2020 climate normals), which keeps this plant on track.
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
Apricot tolerates a wide pH range (pH 5-8) — 3 units, acid ground through alkaline — so soil acidity is rarely what limits it in North Dakota. 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 6.5 and 7 — worth knowing before you decide whether a North Dakota soil test result is a problem or just a number. Drainage matters: this plant wants well (dry spells). If your North Dakota site is heavier clay or sits in a low spot, a raised bed lifts the roots above wet ground, or work in compost.
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. North Dakota soil profile from USDA NRCS SSURGO. Site-specific verification: a 30-minute soil test from your local Extension lab.
Before you plant apricot 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 apricot goes in. What follows is North Dakota’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 North Dakota — and how to grow with it.
We checked the federal record across North Dakota — 4,130 documented sites across 5 of the 8 source types we track.
The most significant on record: 22 Superfund sites. Sites tracked in EPA's Superfund program — from assessment-stage CERCLIS entries to confirmed National Priorities List cleanup sites.
North Dakota 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 of imported, lab-tested soil grow well almost anywhere in the meantime.
Sources Checked
across North Dakota
Severity Distribution
across North Dakota
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around North Dakota, Brownfields runs higher than the national average — 345 sites across North Dakota. It's not cause for alarm — it's worth knowing, and there's a sensible way to grow around it.
Brownfields: Brownfield sites are former commercial or industrial properties that EPA’s Brownfields program (ACRES) has assessed or funded cleanup on.
Contact the EPA Brownfields program or the state cleanup agency for this site’s actual assessment/remediation status — ACRES itself does not publish one we can read per site.
Sources: EPA, USGS — 950K documented sites tracked nationwide across 8 federal source types.
What Else to Consider for Apricot in North Dakota
Zone compatibility tells you about winter cold survival — but North Dakota growers also need to think about:
Extreme cold (-40F) and short growing season
Persistent wind desiccates plants
Low rainfall in western ND
What to actually do about these — and the constraints that apply to every North Dakota grower, not just apricot — is covered on the North Dakota growing guide.
Where in North Dakota Apricot Is Zone-Hardy
Apricot is rated for USDA zones 5–9. No North Dakota county reaches it. Even Stutsman County, the state’s mildest winter at zone 4b, sits below the plant’s zone 5 floor — so in open ground this one needs winter protection here, or a container that comes under cover.
Across those 53 counties North Dakota’s winter-low ladder runs from zone 3b in Bottineau County to zone 4b in Stutsman County — 1 USDA zone of spread, which is 10°F between the two counties’ average coldest night of the year. None of that range reaches the band apricot needs, so here the statewide answer really is the answer.
County hardiness zones: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM) 2023, per county. Apricot’s zone 5–9 band: Rated hardy to zone 5a by NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox, checked Oct 2026. Ceiling: not verified.. A parcel report resolves your address’s own zone and frost dates rather than its county’s.
Pollinator + Wildlife Value
Apricot draws honeybees, native bees, and butterflies (high value). Planting it near vegetable beds can lift fruit set on neighboring crops. Outdoors, apricot can only work that bloom inside North Dakota's frost window — roughly 157 days, opening after the last 28°F freeze (Apr 30 - May 6) and closing at the first (Oct 4 - Oct 9), per NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020. Pollinator value: We haven't confirmed this against a published source yet.
North Dakota Cooperative Extension
For North Dakota-specific cultivar recommendations, planting calendars, and pest pressure for apricot, the canonical source is NDSU Extension. Their fact sheets carry the local trial data we can't generalize across 50 states.
Is Apricot native to North Dakota?
No — the USDA PLANTS Database lists Apricot as introduced rather than native in the Lower 48, so it is not part of North Dakota's native flora. It grows here as a garden plant; pairing it with a few North Dakota natives keeps local pollinators fed too.
Looking for plants that belong here? The North Dakota growing guide lists plants that USDA PLANTS records growing in North Dakota and that Kew and NatureServe Explorer both list in its native range, leaving out any that NatureServe flags as exotic there or that our audit holds.
State records: USDA PLANTS Database state-distribution data (presence, not state-level nativity), accessed 2026-10-19.
What pests threaten apricot in North Dakota?
Japanese beetle is documented in North Dakota and will find apricot, but it is manageable here. What an experienced grower watches for, and does:
Japanese beetle
Worth watchingdocumented in part of this stateJapanese beetles feed readily on Prunus fruit and nut trees — the University of Kentucky lists cherries, plums, peaches and their relatives among the plants likely to be attacked. The University of Minnesota's read keeps it in proportion: fruits and their trees tolerate limited leaf feeding, and in most cases the damage is cosmetic rather than a threat to the harvest.
What to do: Protect it through the few peak weeks of midsummer, not all season. Handpick beetles into soapy water in the cool of morning, harvest regularly through July and August to take feeding pressure off the fruit, and keep the tree well watered. Do not hang a Japanese beetle trap — the lures draw in more beetles than they remove.
Documented range: states listed as Japanese-beetle infested · University of Kentucky Entomology, University of Minnesota Extension, National Plant Board
Only pests whose documented range and host relationship both trace to a primary source appear here — so a quiet section means we have nothing sourced to tell you, not that your garden is pest-free.
Common Questions About Growing Apricot in North Dakota
When can I plant Apricot in North Dakota?
North Dakota's last spring hard freeze (28°F) clears between Apr 30 and May 6, and the first fall hard freeze lands between Oct 4 and Oct 9 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). No sourced winter-hardiness floor is on record for Apricot, so this page does not state whether it overwinters in North Dakota 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 Apricot grown in across North Dakota?
North Dakota spans USDA hardiness zones 3b-4b (USDA ARS PHZM 2023). Apricot is listed for zones 5-9, which do not overlap them, so there is no zone in North Dakota where this page can call outdoor growing reliable. A parcel report resolves your own address's zone.
How many frost-free days does a typical North Dakota site have?
A typical North Dakota site sees ~157 frost-free days per year (derived from NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). Apricot needs 180+ frost-free days, so check whether your local microclimate runs above or below the state average before settling on a planting date.
Is Apricot native to North Dakota?
No — the USDA PLANTS Database lists Apricot as introduced rather than native in the Lower 48, so it is not part of North Dakota's native flora. It grows here as a garden plant; pairing it with a few North Dakota natives keeps local pollinators fed too.
How should I amend the soil for Apricot in North Dakota?
Apricot tolerates pH 5-8 and well (dry spells) drainage (FAO ECOCROP). That is a 3-unit span, acid ground through alkaline, so pH is rarely what limits this plant on a North Dakota site — amend for drainage and organic matter first.
Will Apricot actually grow on my specific land in North Dakota?
State-level zone + climate data is a sketch. A Growable Ground parcel report scores apricot against your address's mapped soil pH, drainage, sun, and frost-date data drawn from USDA SSURGO, NOAA, and PRISM — not state averages.
Check your specific parcel in North Dakota
State-level data is a sketch. Your Growable Ground report scores apricot against your land's mapped soil, modelled sun, drainage, and frost data — not zone averages.
Three things about your lot that North Dakota apricot averages can't show:
We read public map data around North Dakota — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the North Dakota apricot average
Explore More
Growing guides for apricot
Explore North Dakota county by county
North Dakota carries 53 counties with their own USDA zone — a sample of the growing pages for apricot there:
Where else apricot grows
Apricot's zone band crosses state lines — these are the states closest to North Dakota 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 North Dakota
North Dakota has a growing page for 745 plants — a rotating sample of the rest of the shelf.
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