Generally — Most Areas
nagoonberry (zones 1-5) suits most of Michigan (4a-7a) — zones 4-5 are in range, and the rest of the state is the exception.
Nagoonberry in Michigan — the short answer
Nagoonberry in Michigan: hardy in zones 1–5, full sun.
- Plant zones
- 1-5
- Hardy to zone 1a: USDA PLANTS Database lists -62 °F, converted to zone 1a, checked Oct 2026. Ceiling: not verified.
- Michigan zones
- 4a-7a
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Frost window
- Apr 19 - May 8 – Oct 12 - Oct 31
- NOAA RCC ACIS 1991-2020, 28°F
- Shortest county season
- 126 days
- NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020, county 28°F killing freeze
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.
Michigan spans zones 4a-7a, 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 nagoonberry 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
Michigan is not one climate
Michigan’s winter-low ladder runs across 83 counties, from zone 4 in Gogebic County to zone 7 in Allegan County. That is 30°F between the two counties’ average coldest night — the difference between nagoonberry overwintering in the ground and coming under cover.
The middle half of 83 counties runs 5–6 zones, with a median of 6 zones — a 3-zone span end to end.
Measured across 83 Michigan 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 in Michigan Fits Best
Nagoonberry is rated for zones 1–5 — a cold floor USDA puts at -60 to -50°F. Against Michigan’s 83 counties that band holds in 25 of them, and the line runs at Gogebic County (zone 4a), the coldest county still inside it.
Inside zones 1–5
25 counties
- Iron County · zone 4a
- Baraga County · zone 4b
- Chippewa County · zone 4b
3 of 25 shown
Above the zone 5 ceiling
58 counties
- Alger County · zone 5b
- Antrim County · zone 5b
- Gladwin County · zone 5b
3 of 58 shown
Warmer than the zone 5 end of its range.
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.
Even within Michigan's zones 4a-7a, county microclimates differ enough to change what thrives. These counties carry the closest zone match for nagoonberry (USDA PHZM 2023):
Zone Comparison
Nagoonberry Needs
- USDA Zones: 1-5
- Sun: Full SunWe haven't confirmed this against a published source yet.
- Mature size: 6 in tallWe haven't confirmed this against a published source yet.
- Picking window: ~28 days of harvestWe haven't confirmed this against a published source yet.
- 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
Plant Zone Range (zones 1-5)
Preferred Soil pH
We haven't confirmed this against a published source yet.
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 Nagoonberry 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.
Winter standing
Michigan runs as cold as USDA zone 4, and no sourced winter-hardiness floor is on record for nagoonberry, so this page does not state whether it overwinters here — and gives no fall establishment date on the strength of a guess. Whether nagoonberry is a permanent planting or a replant-every-spring crop for you turns on your own zone within Michigan; 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.
Soil + Drainage Fit
Nagoonberry tolerates a wide pH range (pH 4.5-7.8) — 3.3 units, acid ground through alkaline — so soil acidity is rarely what limits it in Michigan. 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 5.5 and 6.5 — 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, a raised bed lifts the roots above wet ground, or work in compost. pH range, preferred pH and drainage need: We haven't confirmed this against a published source yet.
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. Michigan soil profile from USDA NRCS SSURGO. Site-specific verification: a 30-minute soil test from your local Extension lab.
Before you plant nagoonberry 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 nagoonberry goes in. What follows is Michigan’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 Michigan — and how to grow with it.
We checked the federal record across Michigan — 35,666 documented sites across 7 of the 8 source types we track.
The most significant on record: 711 Superfund sites. Sites tracked in EPA's Superfund program — from assessment-stage CERCLIS entries to confirmed National Priorities List cleanup sites.
Michigan 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 Michigan
Severity Distribution
across Michigan
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Michigan, Brownfields runs higher than the national average — 3,741 sites across Michigan. That's not a problem with your land — it's information about 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 Nagoonberry 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
What to actually do about these — and the constraints that apply to every Michigan grower, not just nagoonberry — is covered on the Michigan growing guide.
Where in Michigan Nagoonberry Is Zone-Hardy
Nagoonberry is rated for USDA zones 1–5. 25 of Michigan’s 83 counties fall inside that band. The coldest that does is Gogebic County at zone 4a. 58 counties sit above its zone 5 ceiling, where the limit is too little winter chill rather than too much cold. Where you are in Michigan decides this one.
Across those 83 counties Michigan’s winter-low ladder runs from zone 4a in Gogebic County to zone 7a in Allegan County — 3 USDA zones of spread, which is 30°F between the two counties’ average coldest night of the year. That is why a statewide hardiness answer is where you start and not where you finish.
The planting window moves with it. Luce County holds its last hard freeze (28°F) until about May 22, while Berrien County is clear by Apr 6 — 46 days apart. Set nagoonberry out on your county’s date, not the state’s.
County hardiness zones: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM) 2023, per county. County last-freeze dates: NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS (1991-2020), county 28°F killing freeze — earlier than the folk 32°F "last frost". Nagoonberry’s zone 1–5 band: Hardy to zone 1a: USDA PLANTS Database lists -62 °F, converted to zone 1a, 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
Nagoonberry draws native bees (moderate value). Planting it near vegetable beds can lift fruit set on neighboring crops. Outdoors, nagoonberry 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. Pollinator value: We haven't confirmed this against a published source yet.
Michigan Cooperative Extension
For Michigan-specific cultivar recommendations, planting calendars, and pest pressure for nagoonberry, the canonical source is MSU Extension. Their fact sheets carry the local trial data we can't generalize across 50 states.
Is Nagoonberry native to Michigan?
Yes — the USDA PLANTS Database (accessed 2026-10-19) records Nagoonberry in Michigan, and Kew's Plants of the World Online (WCVP) lists Michigan in its native range. Planting it supports the pollinators and wildlife that evolved alongside it.
State records: USDA PLANTS Database state-distribution data (presence, not state-level nativity), accessed 2026-10-19.
Native-range status: Kew, Plants of the World Online — World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP), release 2026-06-04, licensed CC BY 3.0. powo.science.kew.org
Common Questions About Growing Nagoonberry in Michigan
When can I plant Nagoonberry 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). No sourced winter-hardiness floor is on record for Nagoonberry, so this page does not state whether it overwinters in Michigan 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 Nagoonberry grown in across Michigan?
Michigan spans USDA hardiness zones 4a-7a (USDA ARS PHZM 2023). Nagoonberry carries a range of zones 1-5, 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). Nagoonberry needs 120+ frost-free days, so check whether your local microclimate runs above or below the state average before settling on a planting date.
Is Nagoonberry native to Michigan?
Yes — the USDA PLANTS Database (accessed 2026-10-19) records Nagoonberry in Michigan, and Kew's Plants of the World Online (WCVP) lists Michigan in its native range. Planting it supports the pollinators and wildlife that evolved alongside it.
How should I amend the soil for Nagoonberry in Michigan?
Nagoonberry tolerates pH 4.5-7.8 and well (dry spells) drainage. We haven't confirmed this against a published source yet. That is a 3.3-unit span, acid ground through alkaline, so pH is rarely what limits this plant on a Michigan site — amend for drainage and organic matter first.
Will Nagoonberry actually grow on my specific land in Michigan?
State-level zone + climate data is a sketch. A Growable Ground parcel report scores nagoonberry 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 Michigan
State-level data is a sketch. Your Growable Ground report scores nagoonberry against your land's mapped soil, modelled sun, drainage, and frost data — not zone averages.
Three things about your lot that Michigan nagoonberry 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 nagoonberry average
Explore More
Growing guides for nagoonberry
Explore Michigan county by county
Michigan carries 83 counties with their own USDA zone — a sample of the growing pages for nagoonberry there:
Where else nagoonberry grows
Nagoonberry's zone band crosses state lines — these are the states closest to Michigan 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 Michigan
Michigan has a growing page for 889 plants — a rotating sample of the rest of the shelf.
Last updated: