The Finger Lakes spans USDA hardiness zones 5b-6b — room for a real mix of vegetables, fruit, and perennials matched to the local frost calendar.
Deep glacial lakes moderate New York's premier cool-climate wine region, where lake-effect slopes favour grapes, apples, and other tree fruit. Reliable performers under these conditions include apple, grape, garlic, and kale; what your own ground favors still comes down to its soil, sun, and drainage.
The Finger Lakes spans New York.
Your yard isn't the whole Finger Lakes.
The Finger Lakes spans USDA zones 5b-6b, but your parcel sits in exactly one — and slope, tree cover, and low spots nudge it further. Enter your address and we'll score 1,112 plants against your land's actual soil, sun, and frost.
We read public map data for this spot — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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Quick Facts
USDA Zones
5b-6b
States
1
Counties
12
Defined by
Counties
Hardiness Zone Range
What Grows in the Finger Lakes
Plants matched to the Finger Lakes's USDA zones 5b-6b — each links to its full growing profile.
Native Plants Suited to the Finger Lakes
US-native plants (USDA PLANTS, Lower 48) whose hardiness range overlaps the Finger Lakes’s USDA zones 5b-6b. Zone overlap is a starting filter, not a range map — for plants documented native to your county, your state’s Cooperative Extension or a native-plant society is the authority.
Safe to Grow Here?
What the federal record shows across the Finger Lakes — and how to grow with it.
A growing region spans many local records, and contamination is a per-place fact — not a regional verdict. Nationwide we track 1.8M documented sites across 9 federal source types; open the map outlined to the Finger Lakes to see exactly what's on record where you grow.
Sources: EPA, USGS — 1.8M documented sites tracked nationwide across 9 federal source types.
Your Specific Parcel Matters
the Finger Lakes Average
- ●USDA Zones 5b-6b
- ●Generic soil type for the area
- ●State-average frost dates
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact hardiness zone
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your parcel in the Finger Lakes
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in the Finger Lakes — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, contamination, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your exact spot that zone averages miss:
We read public map data for this spot — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources analyzed in seconds
Key Growing Facts for the Finger Lakes
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 5b-6b (USDA PHZM 2023, aggregated across the region)
- States: New York
- Counties covered: 12
- Region boundary: a cluster of neighboring counties
Zone data: USDA ARS Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023. Region boundary: curated county clusters and EPA Level III ecoregions. County boundaries: US Census TIGER/Line 2025.
Frequently Asked Questions
What hardiness zone is the Finger Lakes?
The Finger Lakes spans USDA hardiness zones 5b-6b, aggregated from the USDA Agricultural Research Service Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023 across the region's counties. Zones reflect average annual extreme minimum temperatures from 1991–2020 data.
What grows well in the Finger Lakes?
The Finger Lakes's conditions suit plants such as Apple, Grape, Garlic, Kale, Sugar Maple, Blueberry. For site-specific recommendations scored against your parcel's soil, drainage, and sun data, run the Growable Ground report for your address.
Which states does the Finger Lakes cover?
The Finger Lakes spans New York. Each state's full growing guide is linked below.