Montmorency County, in Michigan, sits in USDA hardiness zone 5a — a band that supports both cool-season staples and warm-season crops chosen to fit the local frost window.
The conditions favor cabbage, cranberry, lavender, and collard greens, among others — though every individual site edits that list with its own soil, sun, and drainage.
Montmorency County lies within the Northern Lower Michigan ("Up North") — a regional growing area with its own character.
Grounded in USDA PHZM 2023 · Growable Ground suitability scoring · NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
Montmorency County holds more than one microclimate.
Soils and elevations shift across Montmorency County, so your frost dates and drainage aren't the county average. Enter your address and we'll score 1,086 plants against your land's actual soil, sun, and frost.
We read public map data around Montmorency County — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
No card required · your full report in seconds
Montmorency County — the short answer
Montmorency County, Michigan: USDA zone 5a, about 145 days between hard freezes, across 350K acres.
- USDA zone
- 5a
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- May 15
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Oct 7
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- Days between freezes
- ~145
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- County area
- 350K acres
- US Census TIGER/Line 2025
Every figure names the dataset it came from. Hard-freeze dates are county 28°F normals: light frosts run a few weeks past them, and tender transplants usually wait 2–3 weeks after the last hard freeze.
Hardiness Zone Range
Zone 5a is Montmorency County's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Montmorency County's 145-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Heat in Montmorency County
Across a year, Montmorency County accumulates about 1,797 growing degree days above 50°F, about 303 fewer than the middle Michigan county — ahead of 23 of Michigan’s 83 counties. Degree days are the heat a crop actually gets to work with — more of them is more room to ripen a long-season crop before the freeze closes the window.
Grounded in PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University — 1991–2020 monthly normals
Soil in Montmorency County
Across Montmorency County, the ground is predominantly Alfisols, where Graycalm, Millersburg, and Grayling are the most extensive named soil series. The soil is generally well drained with a sand surface. Topsoil pH runs about 4.7–5.6, strongly acidic. Rainfall drains through hydrologic group A soils.
Soil order
Alfisols
Drainage
Well drained
Prime farmland
3%
Hydric soils
18%
Soil still varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
How the ground varies across Montmorency County
The USDA soil survey maps 25% of Montmorency County as well drained — but another 72% drains differently: 20% somewhat excessively drained, 18% very poorly drained.
Graycalm is the most extensive named soil at 14% of mapped acres, then Millersburg (12%) and Grayling (11%).
Which of them your own lot sits on is a parcel question, not a county one. Check your address for the survey at your boundary.
What this means for growing in Montmorency County
Each reading below is measured for Montmorency County itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Drainage
MeasuredThe dominant soils across Montmorency County are well drained, in hydrologic group A — ground that drains quickly.
The upside is soil you can work early in spring and roots that never drown; the cost is that fast-draining ground dries out fast and leaches nutrients away before plants can use them.
Work in compost and mulch to hold moisture and feed, and water more often in short doses than deep and rarely.
USDA NRCS SSURGO
Surface pH
MeasuredTopsoil across Montmorency County runs about pH 4.7–5.6, on the acidic side.
Blueberries, potatoes, and rhododendrons thrive in it, but most vegetables start locking out nutrients below about pH 6.0 and grow pale and stunted no matter how much you feed them.
A measured lime application raises pH for the crops that need it — but test first, because the right rate depends on your own soil, not the county average.
USDA NRCS SSURGO
Wet ground
MeasuredAbout 18% of Montmorency County is mapped as hydric — wetland — soil.
If your lot falls in one of those pockets, a standard in-ground bed will fight waterlogging all season, and roots that need air will struggle.
Check how your own ground drains before you dig; raised beds or moisture-loving plantings turn a wet corner from a problem into a niche.
USDA NRCS SSURGO
Season length
MeasuredMontmorency County runs about 145 days between hard freezes — a short growing season.
Long-maturing crops like melons, sweet potatoes, and winter squash can run out of runway before the first hard freeze, ripening late or not at all.
Lead with fast-maturing varieties, and stretch the season on both ends with cold frames, low tunnels, or a greenhouse.
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
The kind of country Montmorency County is in
Montmorency County sits in the Northern Lakes and Forests — EPA Level III, inside the wider Northern Forests. One consistent ecological setting across the whole county.
What Grows in Montmorency County
We scored all 1,086 plants against Montmorency County's own USDA zone 5a and its own 145-day season between hard freezes, using the same matching engine that runs a full parcel report. These cleared both. Sun, soil pH and drainage vary lot by lot — those are the parcel questions below. Each card opens that plant's Michigan profile.
Is it too late to plant in Montmorency County?
Too late for some crops, right on time for others — a growing season is a sequence, not a deadline. Cool-season crops can go in from around Apr 17; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near May 15 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Oct 7 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. Short seasons reward decisiveness — quick-maturing varieties late, hardy greens under cover, and next year’s garlic in the ground before it closes.
Documented around Montmorency County
- monarch butterfly3 documented records
Sighting records, so they follow observers as much as insects.
What gets applied to farmland in Montmorency County
USGS estimates 3,430 lb of Glyphosate on Montmorency County farmland in 2019, its largest by weight, ahead of Metolachlor & Metolachlor-s (1,114 lb) and Metolachlor-s (1,013 lb).
Farmland across the whole county, not any one lot. Check your address for the site-by-site record.
Safe to Grow Here?
What the federal record shows across Montmorency County — and how to grow with it.
We checked the federal record across Montmorency County — 116 documented sites across 4 of the 9 source types we track.
The most significant on record: 2 Toxics Release Inventory facilities. Active industrial facilities reporting chemical releases to air, water, and land.
The federal record across Montmorency County is a modest one — a typical footprint for a growing area. Nothing here calls for alarm; it's worth knowing which recorded sites sit closest to where you grow, and each one on the map carries its type and location. If one turns out to be a near neighbor, a one-time soil test settles the question.
Sources: EPA, USGS — 1.8M documented sites tracked nationwide across 9 federal source types.
What's on the federal record near Montmorency County
Closest first, across Montmorency County. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- Atlanta Municipal AirportUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.9 mi
- Montmorency County Sheriffs DeptUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.9 mi
- CCR Trading IncUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.9 mi
- Atlanta Bulk PlantUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.1 mi
- Chatters Pit Stop & PropaneUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.3 mi
- Wysons General StoreUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.3 mi
- Loud Twp BoardUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.3 mi
- FREEDOM MARKET INCBrownfields · 1.3 mi
- Freddie's Family MarketUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.3 mi
- The PointeUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.4 mi
- Konopkas Service StationUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.5 mi
- Walosins CornerUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.5 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Montmorency County's center, not your beds. Run your own address for what's upwind of you specifically.
Environmental Intelligence
The counts behind that headline — every source type on the record near Montmorency County.
Total Sites
116
across Montmorency County
Risk Level
Moderate
Highest-severity
2 Toxics Release Inventory facilities
Sources Checked
across Montmorency County
Severity Distribution
across Montmorency County
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Montmorency County, Underground Storage Tanks runs higher than the national average — 82 sites across Montmorency County. Knowing it is half the work — and it's nothing a thoughtful grower can't plan for.
Underground Storage Tanks: Underground storage tanks are the single most common source of soil contamination near homes and gardens.
Use raised beds with imported soil — this eliminates the primary soil-contact pathway.
Check your specific parcel in Montmorency County
Get exact proximity distances to contamination sources for your specific parcel — plus soil, sun, drainage, and 1,086 plant recommendations.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Montmorency County average
Your land is one point inside Montmorency County
Everything above resolves to Montmorency County as a whole — one PHZM band and one county frost record, read across 350K acres. Your parcel is one point inside that footprint. Slope, tree cover, a low spot that pools cold air, and what is in the soil are all resolved at the address, and none of them are visible at county scale. That is the honest boundary of this page, and the reason the next step is a reading of your own ground rather than a better county average.
Your Lot vs the Montmorency County Average
Montmorency County Average
- ●USDA Zones 5a, averaged across Montmorency County
- ●One soil character for all of Montmorency County
- ●Frost dates read at Montmorency County's scale: May 15 to Oct 7
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Montmorency County's 5a
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your parcel in Montmorency County
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Montmorency County, Michigan — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Montmorency County averages can't show:
We read public map data around Montmorency County — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Montmorency County average
How we know this about Montmorency County
The datasets: hardiness from the USDA ARS Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023, read at county grain; hard-freeze dates from NOAA 1991–2020 28°F normals at this county’s own record where one resolves, and the labelled statewide window where none does; soils from the USDA NRCS SSURGO survey, area-weighted across the county’s own map units; boundaries and acreage from US Census TIGER/Line 2025; the contamination and pesticide records from the federal sources named in their beats above. Where Montmorency County carries no record of its own, the figure is inherited and labelled — the resolution ledger below names each.
Common questions about Montmorency County
When does frost risk typically end in Montmorency County?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Montmorency County typically lands around May 15, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — earlier than the light-frost dates most charts quote. That marks the hard freeze, not the last light frost — lighter frosts keep biting past it, which is why tender transplants here wait until about Jun 5.
How long is the growing season in Montmorency County?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Montmorency County sees about 145 frost-free days — roughly May 15 through Oct 7, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Jun 5 to Sep 23, about 110 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Montmorency County?
The federal record around Montmorency County shows 116 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (82), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.9 miles out — a typical footprint for a growing area, and proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis of any one yard. It's worth seeing which recorded sites sit closest to where you grow, and testing the soil before new food beds near any of them.
How do gardeners stretch the season in Montmorency County?
With about 145 frost-free days between hard freezes, Montmorency County rewards the classic extension moves: floating row cover buys roughly two to four extra weeks at each shoulder — on this season that is a working window nearer 173 to 201 days — and cold frames or low tunnels buy more. Starting transplants indoors ahead of the May 15 hard-freeze normal stretches the season without touching the calendar.
Everything above is measured at Montmorency County's scale — its 5a band and its 145-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Montmorency County's numbers: we read soil, sun, drainage and frost at your exact address. Try it for 14 days — no card required.
Will It Grow Here?
Zone fit is the first question — each answer below reads Michigan's frost window, season length, and soil profile against the plant's real requirements.
What this page reads at Montmorency County’s own scale
9 of the readings below were taken at Montmorency County's own scale — its own ~145-day span between 28°F freezes, the 3 most extensive soil series mapped here and 116 documented sites inside its boundary; one is borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Montmorency County's own USDA hardiness band, zones 5aUSDA PHZM 2023
- Montmorency County's own 28°F hard-freeze dates and its ~145-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
- The soil order, drainage, surface pH, and the 3 most extensive named soil series mapped in Montmorency CountyUSDA NRCS SSURGO
- 116 documented contamination sites inside the county boundary, distance-sorted from its center — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.9 miles outFederal environmental registers
- Montmorency County's boundary and the 349,872 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 5a and a ~145-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- Montmorency County sitting wholly inside the Northern Lakes and ForestsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
- Open occurrence records documented in Montmorency County for a tracked speciesGBIF derived datasets (CC0 / CC BY 4.0)
- Which agricultural compounds go onto Montmorency County farmland, and roughly how muchUSGS NAWQA EPest county estimates
Inherited from a wider read
- The growing challenges every Michigan grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Michigan
What this page can’t tell you
- How the season shifts across Montmorency County — the ~145 days above is one reading at its centre; the 12 towns below each carry their owntowns in this county →
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Montmorency County's 349,872 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which of those 116 documented sites actually reaches your soil — that needs your address, the wind, and the groundwater directionhow we read the record →
- Where cold air settles, which slopes face the sun, and which way the wind runs on your own ground — none of it survives being averaged over Montmorency Countyread your own land →