Michigan spans USDA hardiness zones 4a-6b, with a growing season of about 170 frost-free days — a working season long enough for the classics, short enough that timing around frost stays part of the craft.
The raw materials of the growing year here: 28-38 inches of annual rainfall, a median of roughly 2,700 growing-degree days (base 50°F), and about 1,650 winter chill hours for tree fruit. The soil story is sandy loam, clay loam, muck, and glacial outwash — and reading their drainage is half the battle of siting any planting. Growers here do well with cherry, blueberry, apple, and asparagus — with the usual caveat that any single yard's soil, sun, and drainage cast the deciding vote.
Grounded inUSDA PHZM 2023•NOAA Climate Normals•USDA NRCS SSURGO•GDD aggregate (Cornell CALS)•Chill-hour aggregate (MSU Extension)•EPA FRS•USDA PLANTS•Growable Ground suitability scoring
Michigan spans zones 4a-6b, but your yard 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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USDA Zones
4a-6b
USDA PHZM 2023
Last Frost
Apr 20 - May 30
NOAA 30-yr Normals
First Frost
Sep 15 - Oct 20
NOAA 30-yr Normals
Annual Rainfall
28-38 inches
NOAA Climate Normals
Zone maps are averages across Michigan. Your yard's slope, trees, and frost pockets shift what actually grows — see your land's exact reading.
The soil types that dominate Michigan — how each drains decides more about crop success than almost anything else. Tap any soil to learn what it is and how to work with it.
Drainage
Fast. The sand fraction opens the soil up, so water moves through the root zone quickly and the surface rarely stays soggy. The trade is that nutrients ride out with the water.
What thrives
Root crops love it — carrots, potatoes, radishes, and onions size up cleanly in ground they can push through. Melons, sweet potatoes, asparagus, and most herbs appreciate the warmth and the drainage.
No verified open-license photo yet — this loam is close kin to the loam and silt-loam profiles above.
Drainage
Slow to moderate. Water lingers in the root zone longer than in loam, which is a gift in dry summers and a challenge in wet springs.
What thrives
Heavy feeders that appreciate steady moisture — brassicas, corn, beans, and many fruit trees. Perennials with strong root systems establish well once they are through the first season.
Drainage
It holds water like a sponge by nature; farmed muck is managed with ditches and water control, and it can dry, shrink, and even blow when left bare.
What thrives
Muck is celebrated vegetable ground — onions, celery, carrots, lettuce, and greens grow to prize quality in it. Its loose, black tilth is what root and leaf crops dream of.
Drainage
Fast and deep. Outwash plains are among the best-drained ground in the glaciated states.
What thrives
Root crops, asparagus, bush fruits, and orchard trees on drought-tolerant rootstocks. Anything that resents wet feet considers outwash a gift.
Soil data: USDA NRCS SSURGO · Soil types explained
Plants well-suited to Michigan's climate, soils, and growing season — each links to its full growing profile.
Too late for some crops, right on time for others — a growing season is a sequence, not a deadline. Across Michigan, cool-season planting typically opens about four weeks before the local last hard freeze — county medians put that freeze near Apr 12, with the middle half of counties between Apr 6 and Apr 22 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals). Tender transplants wait two to three weeks past it, and fall planting counts back from first freezes mostly between Nov 3 and Nov 15 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. A long window like this one runs successions deep into fall — and even its last weeks take quick greens and garlic.
The plants Michigan put its name on — cultural emblems, not growing recommendations.
Apple blossom
Malus
Designated 1897.
Pinus strobus
Designated 1955. In our plant library — see its full growing profile.
Plants the USDA PLANTS Database documents as native and present in Michigan — a real per-state range, not just a zone match. Presence is statewide, so a plant may still be uncommon in your specific county; your state’s Cooperative Extension or a native-plant society is the local authority.
US-native plants whose hardiness range overlaps Michigan’s USDA zones 4a-6b but which USDA PLANTS doesn’t map to a single state range here. Zone overlap is a starting filter, not a range map.
What an experienced grower plans around here — each one has a move.
Lake effect weather creates highly localized microclimates
Lake effect rewrites the map mile by mile — check your exact site, not your region, before you commit a planting plan.
Short northern season (100-120 frost-free days in UP)
Up north, fast-maturing varieties plus a hoop house or cold frame turn a tight season into a dependable one.
Sandy soils in western MI drain too quickly
Compost and cover crops, applied annually, teach sandy ground to hold water — the west-side fix is organic matter.
For cultivar selection, pest pressure, and planting-time guidance specific to Michigan, the MSU Extension is the authoritative local source.
Safe to Grow Here?What the federal record shows across Michigan — and how to grow with it.
We checked the federal record across Michigan — 60,035 documented sites across 8 of the 9 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 with clean imported soil grow well almost anywhere in the meantime.
Severity Distribution
across Michigan
Highest-Severity Sites
Know Before You Grow
Sources: EPA, USGS — 1.8M documented sites tracked nationwide across 9 federal source types.
State averages sketch the shape. Your soil, sun exposure, drainage, and microclimate decide what actually takes. Pull a site-specific report for your exact parcel.
Enter your address. We read your soil, sun, drainage, and frost dates, then score 1,112 plants against the real conditions on your land.
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
Michigan spans USDA hardiness zones 4a-6b, per the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023. Zones reflect average annual extreme minimum temperatures from 1991–2020 weather data.
Too late for some crops, right on time for others — a growing season is a sequence, not a deadline. Across Michigan, cool-season planting typically opens about four weeks before the local last hard freeze — county medians put that freeze near Apr 12, with the middle half of counties between Apr 6 and Apr 22 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals). Tender transplants wait two to three weeks past it, and fall planting counts back from first freezes mostly between Nov 3 and Nov 15 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. A long window like this one runs successions deep into fall — and even its last weeks take quick greens and garlic.
Across Michigan, the middle half of counties see their last hard freeze (28°F) between about Apr 6 and Apr 22, with a county median near Apr 12 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals). That marks the hard freeze, not the last light frost — light frosts can still bite for a few more weeks, so tender transplants usually wait another 2–3 weeks.
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, growing seasons across Michigan's counties mostly run about 196 to 222 days, with a county median near 216 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals). Tender crops get a somewhat shorter practical window, since lighter frosts reach a few weeks past the hard-freeze dates on both ends.
Michigan's zones 4a-6b support a wide range — strong performers include Cherry, Blueberry, Apple, Asparagus, and White Pine. What actually takes on any one site comes down to its soil, sun, and drainage, and we score each plant against the real conditions at your address.
Officially, Michigan spans USDA zones 4a-6b (USDA PHZM 2023) — but a zone is a 30-year average of winter's coldest night across an area, and it can't see any one yard. A south-facing slope, a tree line, or a low frost pocket can shift a single site by half a zone either way, which is why neighboring gardeners often quote different numbers. We read the conditions at your exact address — soil, sun, slope, and frost — and score 1,112 plants against what's actually there.
The federal record across Michigan runs heavier than most — 60,035 documented sites — so test the soil before planting food in the ground, and raised beds with clean imported soil grow well in the meantime. Even here, proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis of any one yard; the contamination map shows exactly what's recorded and where.
Start with three facts. Michigan spans USDA zones 4a-6b, which sets what survives winter; last hard freezes range from about Apr 6 to Apr 22 across its counties (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and 60,035 documented sites sit on the federal record here, so a soil test before food beds is the smart first step. From there, matching plants to your actual soil and sun is the fun part.
Everything on this page is a Michigan average. Your yard writes its own version — we read soil, sun, drainage, and frost at your exact address. Try it for 14 days — no card required.
Explore growing conditions by county — each has its own zone range and land area.
Explore growing conditions by city or town in Michigan.
Michigan shares its dominant growing region with these states — a useful comparison if you're weighing where a crop will behave the same way.
