What Grows in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan

USDA Zones 6b · 2K acres

Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, sits in USDA hardiness zone 6b — enough range to grow cool-season vegetables, hardy fruit, and warm-season crops that mature before the first hard frost.

These conditions suit cabbage, hazelnut, lavender, and collard greens — a starting list any specific site will trim or extend with its own soil, sun, and drainage.

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Even in Grosse Pointe Farms, no two yards are alike.

A low spot, a south-facing slope, or a stand of trees moves the frost date and sun across a single Grosse Pointe Farms lot. 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 Grosse Pointe Farms — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.

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Grosse Pointe Farms — the short answer

Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan: USDA zone 6b, about 223 days between hard freezes, across 2K acres of city.

USDA zone
6b
USDA PHZM 2023
Last hard freeze (28°F)
Apr 5
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
First hard freeze (28°F)
Nov 14
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
Days between freezes
~223
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
City area
2K acres
US Census TIGER/Line 2025

Every figure names the dataset it came from. Hard-freeze dates are this town’s own 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

6b6b
3a (Cold)13b (Hot)

Zone 6b is Grosse Pointe Farms's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Grosse Pointe Farms's 223-day season, see what your own ground reads.

Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.

What this means for growing in Grosse Pointe Farms

Each reading below is measured for Grosse Pointe Farms itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.

Season length

Measured

Grosse Pointe Farms runs about 223 days between hard freezes — a long growing season.

There is slack for succession plantings and slow-finishing crops: many vegetables can be sown twice, and the heat-lovers have time to ripen fully.

Plan a second sowing of quick crops after the first comes out, and use the fall window most gardeners let sit idle.

NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals

Winter hardiness

Measured

Grosse Pointe Farms sits in USDA hardiness zone 6b.

The zone sets which perennials, shrubs, and fruit trees live through an average winter here — a plant rated for a colder zone is a safe bet, one rated warmer needs winter protection or gets treated as an annual.

Match perennials and fruit to the zone before you buy, so nothing you plant is a gamble against the cold.

USDA PHZM 2023

The kind of country Grosse Pointe Farms is in

Grosse Pointe Farms sits in the Huron/Erie Lake Plains — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at Grosse Pointe Farms's own centroid rather than borrowed from Wayne County.

What that means for soil

What Grows in Grosse Pointe Farms

Every plant below cleared Grosse Pointe Farms's own zone 6b and its 223-day season. Each card opens that plant's Michigan profile. How we score.

cabbage, photograph
Growing cabbage in MichiganZones 2–11Grosse Pointe Farms's 6b — 4 zones of cold margin.
hazelnut, photograph
Michigan hazelnut guideZones 4–9Grosse Pointe Farms's 6b — 2 zones of cold margin.
lavender, photograph
Lavender in MichiganZones 5–8Grosse Pointe Farms's 6b — 1 zone of cold margin.
collard greens, photograph
Collard greens: Michigan growing notesZones 2–11Grosse Pointe Farms's 6b — 4 zones of cold margin.
blackberry, photograph
Growing blackberry in MichiganZones 5–8Grosse Pointe Farms's 6b — 1 zone of cold margin.
California poppy, photograph
Michigan california poppy guideZones 6–10Grosse Pointe Farms's 6b is its exact cold limit.
garlic, photograph
Garlic in MichiganZones 2–10Grosse Pointe Farms's 6b — 4 zones of cold margin.
blueberry, photograph
Blueberry: Michigan growing notesZones 3–8Grosse Pointe Farms's 6b — 3 zones of cold margin.
Turkish rocket, photograph
Growing turkish rocket in MichiganGrosse Pointe Farms's 223 days clear the ~90 it needs.
kale, photograph
Michigan kale guideZones 2–11Grosse Pointe Farms's 6b — 4 zones of cold margin.
pawpaw, photograph
Pawpaw in MichiganZones 5–9Grosse Pointe Farms's 6b — 1 zone of cold margin.
angelica, photograph
Angelica: Michigan growing notesZones 4–9Grosse Pointe Farms's 223 days clear the ~120 it needs.
lentil, photograph
Growing lentil in MichiganZones 2–11Grosse Pointe Farms's 223 days clear the ~70 it needs.
okra, photograph
Michigan okra guideZones 2–12Grosse Pointe Farms's 223 days clear the ~50 it needs.
potato, photograph
Potato in MichiganZones 2–11Grosse Pointe Farms's 6b — 4 zones of cold margin.
iris, photograph
Iris: Michigan growing notesZones 3–10Grosse Pointe Farms's 6b — 3 zones of cold margin.
sunflower, photograph
Growing sunflower in MichiganZones 2–11Grosse Pointe Farms's 223 days clear the ~70 it needs.
lilac, photograph
Michigan lilac guideZones 4–10Grosse Pointe Farms's 6b — 2 zones of cold margin.
hops, photograph
Hops in MichiganZones 3–8Grosse Pointe Farms's 6b — 3 zones of cold margin.
hosta, photograph
Hosta: Michigan growing notesZones 3–8Grosse Pointe Farms's 6b — 3 zones of cold margin.
French marigold, photograph
Growing french marigold in MichiganGrosse Pointe Farms's 223 days clear the ~50 it needs.
Apache plume, photograph
Michigan apache plume guideZones 5–11Grosse Pointe Farms's 6b — 1 zone of cold margin.
Virginia creeper, photograph
Virginia creeper in MichiganZones 3–9Grosse Pointe Farms's 6b — 3 zones of cold margin.
tulip, photograph
Tulip: Michigan growing notesZones 6–8Grosse Pointe Farms's 6b is its exact cold limit.
American elm, photograph
Growing american elm in MichiganZones 3–9Grosse Pointe Farms's 6b — 3 zones of cold margin.
Ethiopian mustard, photograph
Michigan ethiopian mustard guideZones 4–10Grosse Pointe Farms's 6b — 2 zones of cold margin.
Kentucky bluegrass, botanical illustration
Kentucky bluegrass in MichiganZones 2–7Grosse Pointe Farms's 6b — 4 zones of cold margin.
Douglas fir, photograph
Douglas fir: Michigan growing notesZones 4–10Grosse Pointe Farms's 6b — 2 zones of cold margin.
alfalfa, photograph
Growing alfalfa in MichiganZones 2–10Grosse Pointe Farms's 223 days clear the ~100 it needs.
Indian grass, photograph
Michigan indian grass guideZones 4–9Grosse Pointe Farms's 6b — 2 zones of cold margin.

Is it too late to plant in Grosse Pointe Farms?

Usually not — gardeners here simply switch what goes in the ground as the season moves. Cool-season crops can go in from around Mar 8; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Apr 5 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Nov 14 — 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.

Documented around Grosse Pointe Farms

Spotted lanternfly documented 18 miles from Grosse Pointe Farms, first recorded 2020. What to watch for.

What's on the federal record near Grosse Pointe Farms

Closest first, within ~10 miles of Grosse Pointe Farms. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.

  1. BBH CATERINGBrownfields · 1500 ft
  2. WM. BEAUMONT HOSPITALBrownfields · 0.6 mi
  3. POINTE ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICEBrownfields · 0.6 mi
  4. HENRY FORD MEDICAL CENTER-COTTAGEBrownfields · 0.6 mi
  5. Henry Ford Cottage HospitalUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi
  6. Grosse Pointe FarmsUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi
  7. GROSSE POINTE FARMS DPSBrownfields · 0.6 mi
  8. HENRY FORD HEALTH SYSTEM DBA HENRY FORD HOSPITALBrownfields · 0.7 mi
  9. Ken Meade LeasingUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.7 mi
  10. Tjo Reality LLCUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.8 mi
  11. GROSSE POINTE SCHOOL SYSTEMBrownfields · 0.8 mi
  12. Grosse Pointe Central Lib.Underground Storage Tanks · 0.9 mi

6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map

Measured from Grosse Pointe Farms'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 Grosse Pointe Farms.

Total Sites

2,988

within ~10 miles of Grosse Pointe Farms

Risk Level

Elevated

Highest-severity

73 Superfund sites

Severity Distribution

within ~10 miles of Grosse Pointe Farms

High2Moderate664Low2,322

Highest-Severity Sites

6400 Miller Street Drum
Superfund · Superfund (Non-NPL)
6929 Lafayette LLC
Superfund · Superfund (Non-NPL)
A-1 Village Cleaners
Superfund · Superfund (Non-NPL)
Aabco Waste Oil
Superfund · Superfund (Non-NPL)
Aevitas Specialty Services Corp
Superfund · Superfund (Non-NPL)

A note from Gnorman

What an experienced grower watches for around here

In and around Grosse Pointe Farms, Superfund runs higher than the national average — 73 sites within ~10 miles of Grosse Pointe Farms. It's not cause for alarm — it's worth knowing, and there's a sensible way to grow around it.

Superfund: Superfund sites represent the most severe contamination in the federal system.

Commission professional soil testing before any food production (test for heavy metals, VOCs, and SVOCs).

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Check your specific parcel in Grosse Pointe Farms

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 Grosse Pointe Farms average

Your land is one point inside Grosse Pointe Farms

Everything above resolves to Grosse Pointe Farms as a whole — one PHZM band and one 28°F frost record, read across 2K 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 city 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 local average.

Your Lot vs the Grosse Pointe Farms Average

Grosse Pointe Farms Average

  • USDA Zones 6b, averaged across Grosse Pointe Farms
  • One soil character for all of Grosse Pointe Farms
  • Frost dates read at Grosse Pointe Farms's scale: Apr 5 to Nov 14

YOUR Parcel

  • Your exact zone, not Grosse Pointe Farms's 6b
  • Your SSURGO soil type & pH
  • Your sun exposure, cast in 3D

See MY Growing Report

Free Report

Read your specific parcel in Grosse Pointe Farms

Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.

Three things about your lot that Grosse Pointe Farms averages can't show:

Your soil pHYour frost-free days — Grosse Pointe Farms averages 223Your sun & shade

We read public map data around Grosse Pointe Farms — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.

25+ data sources read at your address, not the Grosse Pointe Farms average

How we know this about Grosse Pointe Farms

The datasets: hardiness from the USDA ARS Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023, read at this city’s own centroid; hard-freeze dates from NOAA 1991–2020 28°F normals at Grosse Pointe Farms’s own record; boundaries and acreage from US Census TIGER/Line 2025; the contamination records from the federal sources named in their beats above. Soil is not read at city grain anywhere on this page — there is no city-resolution survey in our data, which is why you will find no soil grid here rather than a statewide one wearing a local label. The resolution ledger below names every figure this page inherited.

Common questions about Grosse Pointe Farms

When does frost risk typically end in Grosse Pointe Farms?

The last hard freeze (28°F) in Grosse Pointe Farms typically lands around Apr 5, 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 Apr 26.

When is the first frost in Grosse Pointe Farms?

The first hard freeze (28°F) in Grosse Pointe Farms typically arrives around Nov 14, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Oct 31, so the watching starts about Oct 15 — about 223 days after the spring freeze cleared.

How long is the growing season in Grosse Pointe Farms?

Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Grosse Pointe Farms sees about 223 frost-free days — roughly Apr 5 through Nov 14, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Apr 26 to Oct 31, about 188 days.

Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Grosse Pointe Farms?

The federal record around Grosse Pointe Farms is a meaningful one — 2,988 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (1,423), the nearest Brownfields record about 0.3 miles out — so a soil test before new food beds is a sensible precaution here, not a reason to hold back from growing. Remember that proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis of any one yard; the contamination map shows exactly what sits where.

How do I protect my plants from frost in Grosse Pointe Farms?

From about Oct 15 the job here turns from planting to protecting — the last start even a 30-day crop can finish. As the season closes around the first 28°F hard freeze near Nov 14 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals), three moves buy time: row cover or an old sheet over tender plants on still, clear nights; water the soil the afternoon before a freeze, so it holds warmth overnight; and harvest tomatoes, peppers and basil before Nov 14. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.

Everything above is measured at Grosse Pointe Farms's scale — its 6b band and its 223-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Grosse Pointe Farms's numbers: we read soil, sun, drainage and frost at your exact address. Try it for 14 days — no card required.

What this page reads at Grosse Pointe Farms’s own scale

7 of the readings below were taken at Grosse Pointe Farms's own scale — its own ~223-day season between 28°F freezes, the 1,749 acres it covers and 2,988 documented sites around it; 4 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.

Measured here

  • Grosse Pointe Farms's own USDA hardiness band, zones 6bUSDA PHZM 2023
  • Grosse Pointe Farms's own 28°F hard-freeze dates, about Apr 5 and Nov 14 and the ~223-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
  • 2,988 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Grosse Pointe Farms, the closest Brownfields record about 0.3 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
  • Grosse Pointe Farms's boundary and the 1,749 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
  • Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 6b and a ~223-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
  • The ecoregion at Grosse Pointe Farms's own centroid, the Huron/Erie Lake PlainsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
  • A documented spotted-lanternfly record within reach of Grosse Pointe Farmslydemapr (De Bona & Helmus), 10 km survey lattice

Inherited from a wider read

  • Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Grosse Pointe Farms's 1,749 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Wayne County
  • Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Wayne County
  • The growing challenges every Michigan grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Michigan
  • Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Wayne County

What this page can’t tell you

  • The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Grosse Pointe Farms's 1,749 acreswhy one lot differs from the next
  • Which side of Grosse Pointe Farms you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 1,749 acresreading your own microclimate
  • How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Brownfields record about 0.3 miles out, measured from the town centrehow we read the record
  • Where cold air settles, which slopes face the sun, and which way the wind runs on your own ground — measured at your address, and averaged away by any Grosse Pointe Farms-wide figureread your own land
The next step finer is your own address