Yes — Strong Match
mache is grown as an annual, so season length decides it here, not a winter zone — and Michigan's typical season runs ~186 frost-free days against the ~45 mache needs.
Sow by about Sep 5
Mache is grown as an annual, so what decides it here is season length, not a winter zone. It needs about 45 frost-free days and a typical Michigan season runs ~186 frost-free days, leaving 141 days of slack. That is room to sow as late as about Sep 5 and still finish before the usual first freeze (Oct 25), or to run a second succession.
Want more weeks at either end of that window? How to buy the weeks →
45 frost-free days required against Michigan’s ~186-day season. NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS 1991-2020 (28°F killing freeze), state median across counties, via stateClimateData.ts.
Your yard isn't the whole zone.
Mache is grown as an annual, so your winter zone isn't the deciding factor — your frost-free window is. A typical Michigan site runs ~186 frost-free days, but that is a state median, not your yard: slope, trees, and low spots move the last-frost date across a single parcel. Enter your address and we'll score mache against your land's actual frost dates, sun, and soil.
We read public map data for this spot — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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Zone Comparison
Mache Needs
- USDA Zones: Data pending
- Frost-Free Days: 45+
- Sun: Full Sun
- Mature size: 6 in tall
- Picking window: ~21 days of harvest
- Drought tolerance: Low
Michigan Has
- USDA Zones: 4a-7a
- Last Hard Freeze (28°F): Apr 19 - May 8
- First Hard Freeze (28°F): Oct 12 - Oct 31
- Annual Rainfall: 28-38 inches
- Common Soils: Sandy loam, Clay loam, Muck
Preferred Soil pH
Plant data: USDA PLANTS Database / Growable Ground plant catalog. State data: USDA ARS PHZM 2023, NOAA Climate Normals, NRCS SSURGO.
When to Plant Mache in Michigan
The frost window
Across Michigan, the last spring hard freeze (28°F) clears between Apr 19 and May 8, and the first fall hard freeze lands between Oct 12 and Oct 31 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). Counting from the latest last freeze to the earliest first freeze, that's a 157-day window you can count on — up to 195 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.
When to start the seed
Mache is direct-sown where it grows rather than started under cover, so there is no seed-tray head start to bank — Michigan's dates above are the whole calendar for it. That makes the last-freeze date the binding constraint, and a warmer pocket of your own yard is worth more to this crop than it is to a transplanted one.
Days to maturity vs. the window
At 50 days to maturity (USDA PLANTS Database), counting from the last hard freeze it ripens with 107 days to spare even in Michigan's tightest freeze scenario — room for a later start or a second sowing.
Timing tuned to sub-state frost dates — Luce County, not the statewide average.
Frost window: NOAA Climate Normals 1991-2020. Plant timing fields: USDA PLANTS Database. Your site's own frost dates can run earlier or later than the state range — a parcel report pins them down.
Growing Season Fit
Frost-free days
Mache wants 45+ frost-free days; a typical Michigan site sees ~186 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). That leaves comfortable headroom for succession planting.
Growing degree days
Mache needs ~600 GDD (base 50°F) to ripen. The state median runs ~1976 GDD (from PRISM 1991-2020 climate normals), so Michigan's typical season clears that easily.
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
Mache likes near-neutral soil (pH 6-7.5). That's the common-ground band across Michigan's sandy loam and clay loam — a soil test confirms it for your site. It will grow across that whole span, but it does best between pH 6.5 and 7 — worth knowing before you decide whether a Michigan soil test result is a problem or just a number. Drainage matters: this plant wants well (dry spells). If your Michigan site is heavier clay or sits in a low spot, raised beds or amendment with compost solve it.
Your land, not the state average
Whether mache is safe to eat from Michigan soil is a block-by-block question, not a town-wide one — 60,035 documented contamination sites mean levels spike on some parcels and not the one next door. What mache takes up depends on the horizon its roots actually reach on your parcel, so only a test on your address settles it.
Check your parcel → Source: USDA NRCS SSURGO + EPA/state contamination databases.
Plant pH and drainage requirements from USDA PLANTS Database. Michigan soil profile from USDA NRCS SSURGO. Site-specific verification: a 30-minute soil test from your local Extension lab.
Mache in Michigan — Quick Answer
- Verdict: Yes — Strong Match
- Plant Zones: Data pending (USDA PLANTS Database)
- State Zones: 4a-7a (USDA ARS PHZM 2023)
- Growing Season: 28°F hard freezes about Apr 19 - May 8 to Oct 12 - Oct 31 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020)
- Days to Maturity: 50 days
What Else to Consider for Mache in Michigan
Zone compatibility tells you about winter cold survival — but Michigan growers also need to think about:
Lake effect weather creates highly localized microclimates
Short northern season (100-120 frost-free days in UP)
Sandy soils in western MI drain too quickly
Growing mache here specifically
Because you eat the leaves of mache that sit in the soil, contamination matters more than for most crops — Michigan has 60,035 documented sites, and lead concentrates block by block, not town-wide.
Test your soil for lead first, and raise mache in clean imported soil if the reading is high. How to handle it →
What to actually do about these — and the constraints that apply to every Michigan grower, not just mache — is covered on the Michigan growing guide.
Timing shifts within Michigan
Michigan isn't one climate. In Luce County, the last hard freeze (28°F) holds until about May 22 — roughly 27 days later than the recorded state median — so plant mache to your county's window, not the statewide date.
Mache needs about 45 days of frost-free season to complete its cycle. Even Iron County — Michigan’s shortest season at 126 frost-free days — clears that by 81 days, so season length isn’t the constraint anywhere in Michigan. What varies is your own parcel.
Across Michigan’s 83 counties the frost-free season runs from 126 days in Iron County to 223 days in Berrien County — a spread of 97 days, which is why a single statewide planting date misleads. The median Michigan county sees 186 frost-free days, leaving mache about 141 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"). Mache's 45-day requirement: USDA PLANTS / Growable Ground plant database (minimum frost-free days). A parcel report resolves your address's own frost dates.
Pollinator + Wildlife Value
Mache draws honeybees (low value, Growable Ground Plant Database). Planting it near vegetable beds can lift fruit set on neighboring crops. Outdoors, mache can only work that bloom inside Michigan's frost window — roughly 186 days, opening after the last 28°F freeze (Apr 19 - May 8) and closing at the first (Oct 12 - Oct 31), per NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020.
Michigan Cooperative Extension
For Michigan-specific cultivar recommendations, planting calendars, and pest pressure for mache, the canonical source is MSU Extension. Their fact sheets carry the local trial data we can't generalize across 50 states.
Is Mache native to Michigan?
No — the USDA PLANTS Database lists Mache as introduced rather than native in the Lower 48, so it is not part of Michigan's native flora. It grows here as a garden plant; pairing it with a few Michigan natives keeps local pollinators fed too.
Looking for plants that belong here? The Michigan 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 Mache in Michigan
When can I plant Mache in Michigan?
Michigan's last spring hard freeze (28°F) clears between Apr 19 and May 8, and the first fall hard freeze lands between Oct 12 and Oct 31 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). Time outdoor planting to after the last hard freeze for your specific site — a further two to three weeks for anything tender — and count back from those dates for transplant scheduling.
Can Mache mature before first frost in Michigan?
Yes — Mache matures in 50 days (USDA PLANTS Database), and Michigan's dependable hard-freeze-free window runs 157 days (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020), leaving 107 days of margin. Plant once the last hard freeze has passed — two to three weeks later for anything tender — and it ripens ahead of the first fall freeze.
What hardiness zone is Mache grown in across Michigan?
Michigan spans USDA hardiness zones 4a-7a (USDA ARS PHZM 2023). Mache carries a range of zones Data pending, so the overlap zones are where outdoor growing is most reliable.
How many frost-free days does a typical Michigan site have?
A typical Michigan site sees ~186 frost-free days per year (derived from NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). Mache needs 45+ 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 Luce, the freeze-free season runs shorter than the state average, so verify your own county's window.
Is Mache native to Michigan?
No — the USDA PLANTS Database lists Mache as introduced rather than native in the Lower 48, so it is not part of Michigan's native flora. It grows here as a garden plant; pairing it with a few Michigan natives keeps local pollinators fed too.
How should I amend the soil for Mache in Michigan?
Mache prefers pH 6-7.5 and well (dry spells) drainage (Growable Ground Plant Database). That sits in the common-ground band across Michigan soils — a 30-minute soil test from a local Extension lab confirms it for your specific site.
Will Mache actually grow on my specific land in Michigan?
State-level zone + climate data is a sketch. A Growable Ground parcel report scores mache 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 Michigan
State-level data is a sketch. Your Growable Ground report scores mache against your parcel's exact soil, sun, drainage, and frost data — not zone averages.
Three things about your lot that Michigan mache averages can't show:
We read public map data around Michigan — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Michigan mache average
Explore More
Growing guides for mache
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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