Fruit Trees for Big Rapids, Cadillac and Clare, Michigan

On February 3, 1996, the NOAA station on the flats west of Houghton Lake read −38°F. Big Rapids read −29°F that morning, and the Central Michigan University station in Mount Pleasant −15°F. That 23°F spread inside one map is what growing fruit trees for Big Rapids, Cadillac and Clare comes down to. This is where Central Michigan turns into Northern Michigan: the uplands around Cadillac and Lake City are some of the coldest country in the Lower Peninsula, Mount Pleasant is a lot milder, and the glacial hills in between hide frost pockets next to good slopes.

The map covers the middle of the state, from Cadillac, Lake City and the west shore of Houghton Lake south through Reed City, Evart and Big Rapids to Harrison, Clare and Mount Pleasant. Much of it drains to the Muskegon River. Type your address in the box on the map to get the number for your own place, and the list of what we sell that has come through it.

How to read this map

The big number is the 30-year planning low, the same number our cold hardiness calculator uses, plus a small nudge for the ground around you: a safe number to plan for, not a record. The MFTC zone is that number in half zones. The typical winter is an average year's coldest night, the kind of number USDA's zones are built on, which is why theirs read warmer. The spring layer shows how much warmer or colder a spot runs than Cadillac on a still, clear night at bloom.

Cadillac, the reference town, plans for −31°F, MFTC zone 3b, with a typical winter of −13°F, close to the middle of the map; half the growing ground plans between −32°F and −29°F. The cold end is the floors and flats: Reed City (−35°F), Hersey, Butterfield and Dolph (−34°F). The warm end is the southeast corner: Clare (−24°F, zone 4b), Rosebush (−19°F) and Mount Pleasant (−16°F, zone 5a). Across the named places, the spring layer runs from 5°F colder than Cadillac at Horr, on a flat northwest of Lake Isabella, to 11°F warmer on Blue Mountain, northwest of Harrison.

Why the map looks the way it does

The north end of the map is the Cadillac Hummocky Moraines, sandy and gravelly glacial drift that stands 200 to 500 feet above the ground around it in places, with uplands around Cadillac and Lake City at about 1,300 to 1,450 feet. The land drops and flattens to the southeast, down to about 730 feet near Mount Pleasant, and gets milder the whole way. The big outbreaks line up that way. On February 17, 1979 it was −38°F west of Houghton Lake, −35°F at Lake City, −34°F at the Cadillac airport, −23°F at Big Rapids and −16°F in Mount Pleasant. No Great Lakes water softens any of it; a 1936 Michigan State bulletin put the state's best fruit sites within 3 or 4 miles of Lake Michigan, and this is inland country.

On clear, calm nights cold air drains off the hills and pools in the low spots. Much of the map is the Muskegon's airshed: the river leaves Houghton Lake at North Bay and winds southwest through Evart and Big Rapids, picking up the Clam River from Lake Cadillac, the Hersey from Reed City and the Little Muskegon through the Canadian Lakes. Within 3 miles of most towns the floor plans a few degrees colder than the benches above it, −34°F against −31°F around Reed City and −26°F against −22°F around Farwell. On January 15, 1963 the Newaygo Hardy Dam station, on the Muskegon at 761 feet just south of the map, read −31°F while the Cadillac airport, 544 feet higher, read −15°F.

The coldest place the stations know is the flat ground west of Houghton Lake where the Muskegon starts. The Houghton Lake 6 WSW station sits at about 1,136 feet on ground that varies only about 30 feet within a mile and a quarter, on the old Saint Helen outwash plain, in the bog and wet-sand country west of the lake. Flat, low, wet ground gives the cold nowhere to go, and a wide, shallow basin like that can pool harder than a deep valley that drains. Over 82 years this station has run a median 3°F colder than the Cadillac airport, 170 feet higher, and it has the shortest season on the map, 107 frost-free days.

Above the pools, slopes stay milder on still nights. The benches gain only a few degrees on the winter number, but on bloom nights the gap opens: Highland and Ina, 100 and 120 feet above their floors, read 6°F warmer than Cadillac. That same 1936 bulletin found Michigan ridges only 25 to 30 feet above the surrounding plain could be nearly as frost-free as high hills. When arctic air pours in on a wind, though, there's no inversion and higher ground loses its edge. Nor does a slope always win: the Cadillac 9&10 News station, on a hillside about 60 feet above the airport, read −27°F to the airport's −20°F on February 28, 2014, and −31°F to −27°F on February 20, 2015 (it has only 13 years on file, and nobody has explained it).

Elevation alone settles little. The old Evart station, at 1,025 feet, ran a median 4°F colder than Big Rapids at 898 feet over 41 years (−30°F against −25°F on January 15, 1963), and nobody has published why. Where a spot sits in its own valley matters more.

The lakes don't help in winter. Lake Cadillac and Lake Mitchell are usually frozen by the first week of December, and Houghton Lake, under 9 feet deep on average, holds Tip-Up Town on its ice every January. A lake shelters its shore only while it's open, and these sit at the bottoms of their basins. Towns give a little back (the map credits built-up ground with up to 2.5°F). Snow, about 81 inches a year at Cadillac, chills the air over it but insulates the roots, a fruit tree's weak link. The catch is the north end's deep, coarse sand: it holds water poorly, and dry soil means more root death in a hard winter.

Cadillac, Lake Cadillac and Lake Mitchell

Cadillac sits at about 1,310 feet between Lake Cadillac, a kettle lake, and the bigger Lake Mitchell, both at 1,289 feet, with hills about 190 feet above the lakes within 2 miles. Downtown runs along Mitchell Street on Lake Cadillac's east shore, with Courthouse Hill, the old lumber-baron neighborhood and the densest part of town, beside it. Cadillac West sits across the lake by Mitchell State Park. The Clam River drains Lake Cadillac east toward the Muskegon, and on a still night the cold follows that same low ground.

The map's point for Cadillac, a toe slope 20 feet above its floor, plans for −31°F, zone 3b, with a typical winter of −13°F; nearby, the benches plan for −30°F and the coldest tenth of the ground −34°F. The Wexford County airport station holds the deepest cold on file in the map (−43°F on January 30, 1951), and on February 3, 1996 it read −33°F, past its own planning number of −30°F, so give Cadillac trees some room. Haring, on its floor north of town, and Boon, out west toward the Manistee National Forest, plan for −31°F and read 3°F colder at bloom. Millersville, Benson and Hobart, 60 to 90 feet above their floors, read about 2°F warmer.

On a slope with a clear path for the cold below it, Lapins and Gold sweet cherries and Siberian C peaches (all −35°F) clear the number by 4°F, and Evan's Bali tart cherries, Toka plums and Honeycrisp apples (all −45°F) have plenty of room. Rainier and Contender (−30°F) are worth a try only on your best-drained slope.

Lake City, McBain and the Missaukee lakes

Lake City, Michigan's Christmas Tree Capital, sits at about 1,250 feet with Lake Missaukee along its west edge. The map's point for town is a river bottom: −32°F, zone 3b, typical winter −16°F, and 1°F colder than Cadillac at bloom. The floor nearby plans for −32°F and the coldest tenth −34°F. The Lake City Exp Farm station, on flat ground at 1,230 feet, has been to −35°F (February 1979), −34°F (February 3, 1996) and −41°F (February 11, 1899), with a median last 32°F frost of May 21 and a 125-day season. McBain, about 10 miles south, plans for −32°F with benches at −30°F. Falmouth and Dinca, out east toward the Muskegon, plan for −33°F, and Dinca reads 3°F colder than Cadillac at bloom.

Lean on the hardiest list here: Parkland and Mantet apples, Kerr and Centennial applecrabs, Krasnobokaya pears and Brookred plums (all −50°F). Ed Schultz saw zero winter injury on Centennial after a winter that hit −47°F. Lapins (−35°F) clears the town number by 3°F, but the Exp Farm has been to −34°F since 1995, so keep it to your best slope.

Houghton Lake, Butterfield and the outwash flats

The town of Houghton Lake, on the southwest shore of the 20,044-acre lake at about 1,145 feet, sits on a river bottom and plans for −27°F, zone 4a, with a typical winter of −16°F; it reads 3°F colder than Cadillac at bloom. Houghton Lake Heights, on the west shore, also plans for −27°F. I wouldn't plant to that number. On the shore the map leans on a station that ran only from 2001 to 2012 and missed the big outbreaks. The Houghton Lake airport station, just off the map's edge, read −31°F on February 3, 1996 and −29°F in both 2014 and 2015, and its record is −34°F from 1979. Plan the shore for −31°F or colder, like Cadillac.

West of the lake it gets serious. The 6 WSW station's flats read −35°F on the map, and the hamlets follow: Butterfield and Dolph plan for −34°F, with typical winters of −17°F to −18°F (the coldest of any named place on the map), and Merritt and Moddersville plan for −32°F and read 2°F to 3°F colder than Cadillac at bloom. The station's median last 32°F frost is June 2, and one year in ten it's June 23. Plant what has come through −40°F or colder: Trailman applecrabs (−60°F), September Ruby apples (−55°F), Bolshaya pears, Northern Blue plums, Romeo dwarf cherries, Montana Black Currant and honeyberry (all −50°F).

Reed City, Evart and the Osceola hills

Reed City, the Osceola County seat, sits right on its floor at about 1,040 feet where the Hersey River runs through town. It's the coldest town on the map: −35°F, zone 3b, typical winter −15°F, with the floor nearby at −34°F and the benches at −31°F. Part of that number leans on an old station that ran from the 1890s to 1920, but it's a cold pool either way. Hersey, the old county seat 4 miles southeast, plans for −34°F, and Paris, in the Muskegon valley toward Big Rapids, −32°F and 3°F to 4°F colder than Cadillac at bloom.

Evart, where US 10 crosses the Muskegon, is a river bottom at about 1,007 feet: −32°F, zone 3b, 2°F colder than Cadillac at bloom, with benches nearby at −30°F. Marion, also a river bottom, plans for −33°F. North and east, the land climbs into the hills between Tustin, Marion and Cadillac (Grove Hill, Osceola County's high point, is 1,722 feet), and the bloom nights get good. LeRoy, 60 feet above its floor, plans for −32°F and reads 3°F warmer than Cadillac; Highland and Ina plan for −31°F and read 6°F warmer, and Dighton, on an 8 percent hillside, 4°F warmer.

Around Reed City, Hersey and Paris, plan for −35°F and pick from the −40°F list: Frostbite and Wolf River apples (−45°F), Summercrisp pears, Pipestone plums and Red Lake currants (all −40°F). The benches near Highland, Ina and LeRoy still plan for −31°F to −32°F in winter, but their bloom nights make them the place for Westcot (−45°F) and Sungold (−40°F) apricots, Siberian C peaches and Lapins cherries (−35°F).

Big Rapids, Ferris State and the Mecosta lakes

Big Rapids sits on the Muskegon valley floor at about 928 feet, with Ferris State along the river and uplands about 180 feet above town. It plans for −30°F, zone 3b, typical winter −12°F, and reads 1°F warmer than Cadillac at bloom; the benches nearby plan for −28°F. The water treatment plant station has the longest record on the map, 121 years, with a median last spring frost of May 16 and 144 frost-free days. Stanwood, south of town, plans for −30°F. Grant Center, to the north, reads 3°F colder at bloom, while Pogy, on a bench 120 feet up to the northeast, reads 4°F warmer.

East of town is Mecosta County's lake country. Mecosta and Barryton plan for −31°F and read 2°F and 3°F colder than Cadillac at bloom. Canadian Lakes, the chain of lakes in the Little Muskegon valley, plans for −31°F (just inside zone 3b) and reads 2°F colder. Remus, a little higher and the site of a historic African American settlement, plans for −28°F, zone 4a. Chippewa Lake, 60 feet above its floor, plans for −29°F and reads 1°F warmer than Cadillac.

Big Rapids' −30°F is right at the line for the tender end. Black Gold and Lapins cherries, Italian and Superior plums, Bartlett pears and Empire apples (all −35°F) clear it. Rainier, Stella and Contender (−30°F) sit right at it, so give them a bench like Pogy's, not the river floor or a lakeshore lot.

Harrison, Clare and Farwell

Harrison, the Clare County seat, has more relief around it than any town on the map (about 980 to 1,345 feet within 2 miles), with Budd Lake and Little Long Lake inside the city and the "20 Lakes in 20 Minutes" country all around. The map's point, 60 feet above its floor, plans for −29°F, zone 4a, typical winter −10°F, and reads 2°F warmer than Cadillac at bloom. Allendale, on a bench 110 feet up just south of town, reads 6°F warmer, and Blue Mountain, 150 feet up to the northwest, 11°F warmer, the best bloom reading of any named place on the map. Lake George and Leota, on low ground, read 3°F colder.

Clare, the Gateway to the North (Clare County counts as both Central and Northern Michigan), sits at about 837 feet where US 10 meets US 127, with the South Branch of the Tobacco River holding Lake Shamrock in town. The ground is gentle (811 to 959 feet within 2 miles), so floor and bench both plan for about −23°F. The town plans for −24°F, zone 4b, typical winter −10°F, and reads even with Cadillac at bloom. Farwell, about 5 miles west, plans for −26°F on its floor, but its benches plan for −22°F, the biggest bench-to-floor gap of any town here.

Clare's lots and Farwell's benches are peach ground by our standards: Contender, Veteran (−30°F) and Siberian C (−35°F) clear easily, and Blushingstar (−25°F) clears Clare by a degree (on Farwell's floor it's worth a try). Harlayne and Tomcot apricots, Stella cherries, Stanley plums and D'Anjou pears (all −30°F) fit both towns. Around Harrison the same −30°F kinds clear by a degree, so put them up on the Allendale side, not down by the lakes.

Mount Pleasant, Rosebush and Lake Isabella

Mount Pleasant, home of Central Michigan University, sits at about 771 feet on the Chippewa River in mostly flat country; part of the city lies within the Isabella Indian Reservation, the main land base of the Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Nation. It's the warm corner: −16°F, zone 5a, typical winter −5°F, with the floor nearby at −17°F. At bloom it reads 2°F colder than Cadillac, because the spring layer only measures where you sit in your own drainage, and Mount Pleasant sits on a flat floor. The calendar is another story: the university station's median last 32°F frost is May 1, three weeks ahead of Cadillac, with 170 frost-free days to Cadillac's 125.

That station has run the warmest, or within a degree of it, in every big outbreak on file here. Part of that is the lower, flatter country; part may be town heat, since the station sits in the city. It's the only station in this corner, so on open farm ground well away from town I'd leave a few degrees of margin. Rosebush, on US 127 north of the city, plans for −19°F, and Deerfield Center, 80 feet above its floor to the west, −18°F. Farther west the numbers drop: Beal City −20°F, Weidman and Lake Isabella −23°F, Drew −26°F.

In town, Blushingstar, Redstar and Glohaven peaches and Hardired nectarines (all −25°F) clear the number by 9°F, and Bing cherries (−20°F) by 4°F. Timing kills too: on October 25, 2020 an early cold snap in Missoula killed almost all of our young Bings before they'd gone dormant. Out at Rosebush, Beal City and Lake Isabella, stick to the −25°F list and hardier.

Spring frost and bloom around Cadillac, Big Rapids and Clare

NOAA station records for 1991 to 2020 spread the last spring frost over a month here. The median last 32°F frost comes May 1 in Mount Pleasant, May 16 at Big Rapids, May 21 at Lake City, May 22 at the Cadillac airport and June 2 west of Houghton Lake. The last 28°F frost, about where open blossoms start dying, runs from April 13 in Mount Pleasant to May 16 west of Houghton Lake.

The spring layer is about position, not the calendar. It follows the winter drainage, only sharper, because a bloom-night frost is a thin layer, usually topping out 30 to 200 feet above the ground by the FAO's frost protection manual. The warm readings are benches and knobs like Blue Mountain, Ina and Allendale; the cold ones are flats and river bottoms: Horr (5°F colder than Cadillac), Slaybaugh Corner, Chippewa Vista and Temple (4°F colder), Barryton, Marion and the town of Houghton Lake (3°F colder). Michigan State's fruit people put the point where open blossoms of apple, pear, cherry, peach, apricot and plum start dying at about 28°F, and NC State notes that 3°F to 4°F can separate no crop from a full one.

An earlier spring doesn't mean less frost risk; it pulls bloom forward into weeks that still freeze. Michigan learned that in 2012: a very early warm spell, then freezes through March and April, and the state's biggest apple loss since the 1940s (the reports came from the state's southwest, southeast and northwest, not from here).

Site comes first; the FAO calls it the single most important method of frost protection. Apricots, peaches and sweet cherries go highest, apples and haskap lower. Bob Purvis's rule fits: an east-facing slope warms quickly on a frosty morning, a north slope holds early bloomers back, and you want the slope, not the bottom or a windswept top. In wooded country, a tree line or brush across the bottom of your planting backs cold air up into the trees, so open a path for it. Through bloom, mow short, don't till, and water a day or two before a frost night. Most fruit can lose half its blossoms with little effect, and only about 15 percent of apple blossoms need to set. Honeyberry flowers take 19°F wide open, so it's the safest early bloomer for the flats.

What the weather records say

The coldest reading on file in this map is −43°F at the Cadillac airport station on January 30, 1951, the morning Lake City read −37°F and Mount Pleasant −23°F. Lake City's Exp Farm holds −41°F and Big Rapids −36°F, both from February 11, 1899. The flats west of Houghton Lake have been to −38°F on three mornings (February 17 and 18, 1979 and February 3, 1996), and since 1979 they've usually been the coldest spot in an outbreak. Mount Pleasant's record is −30°F (February 5, 1918). Since 1995 the big outbreaks came in February 1996, 2014 and 2015, and the 1996 night went past the 30-year planning number at three stations: −33°F at the Cadillac airport against its −30°F, −34°F at Lake City against −33°F, and −38°F west of Houghton Lake against −35°F. The planning low is a safe number to plan around, not a floor.

In an average year the coldest night runs about −20°F at Lake City, −18°F at the Cadillac airport, −15°F at Big Rapids and −10°F at Mount Pleasant. USDA's 2023 map is built on averages like those, so it puts Cadillac, Lake City, Reed City, Evart, Harrison and Houghton Lake in zone 5a, Big Rapids and Clare in 5b and Mount Pleasant in 6a. Ours run colder because they're built on the bad night.

What you can grow here

Commercial fruit is scarce here: the 2002 farm census counted only a few hundred acres of orchard across these counties, most of it in Mecosta. A backyard grower with the right spot can still do well.

Mount Pleasant, Rosebush and Deerfield Center, −16°F to −20°F. Blushingstar, Redstar and PF-24C Cold Hardy peaches and Red Gold nectarines (−25°F), Skeena cherries and Shiro plums (−30°F), Baldwin apples and Rhodes heartnut (−25°F). Bing and Arctic Glo (−20°F) belong on sheltered town lots.

Clare, Farwell, Lake Isabella and Weidman, −21°F to −26°F. Contender and Veteran peaches, Doug's Big Red Juicy nectarines, Harlayne, Tomcot and Goldrich apricots, Rainier and Stella cherries, Stanley plums, D'Anjou pears, Liberty and Northern Spy apples, Bill's Nectar peachcot and Concord grapes (all −30°F). Blushingstar (−25°F) is good in Clare and worth a try in Farwell.

Big Rapids, Harrison, Stanwood, Remus and the warmer benches, −27°F to −30°F. Lapins, Gold and Black Gold sweet cherries and Siberian C peaches (−35°F); Italian and Superior (−35°F) and Mount Royal (−40°F) plums; Bartlett and Seckel (−35°F) and Flemish Beauty (−40°F) pears; Cortland and Red McIntosh (−40°F) and Macoun (−35°F) apples; Sungold and Precious apricots (−40°F); Marquette (−35°F) and Swenson Red (−40°F) grapes. Rainier, Stella and Contender (−30°F) go on the benches.

Cadillac, Lake City, Reed City, Evart, the Houghton Lake shore and the cold floors, −31°F to −35°F, colder on the flats west of Houghton Lake. Honeycrisp, Haralson and Snowsweet® apples (−45°F); Kerr and Centennial applecrabs (−50°F); Krasnobokaya (−50°F) and Cold Snap® (−40°F) pears; Toka (−45°F) and Brookred (−50°F) plums; Evan's Bali (−45°F) and Meteor (−40°F) cherries; Debbie's Gold apricots (−50°F) up high; Valiant grapes and Aronia (−50°F); Pixwell gooseberries (−40°F).

Apples, pears and the hybrid plums want a different variety nearby to pollenize them; our pollination maps help you find a pollenizer. Snow protects the roots most winters, but in a snowless cold snap bare sand freezes deep, so mulch and use hardy stock on exposed ground. The sand holds water poorly, so use drip and mulch; taper the water from mid-August so trees harden off, but don't let deep sand go into winter bone dry. It runs acid (about pH 5.3 in the sandy sites NRCS describes), so soil-test before planting tree fruit; the Cold Climate Blueberry Bundle (−40°F) is at home in it. In wet sandy hollows, test drainage first (dig 2 feet, fill, let it drain, refill; under 10 hours is well drained). Deer and bear show up around Clare County, so fence. With 125 frost-free days at Cadillac (UVM calls anything under 135 short-season country), favor early and midseason ripeners up north. Up toward Grand Traverse Bay, the Traverse City map covers you; around Gaylord, see the Petoskey, Charlevoix and Gaylord map.

Questions people ask

What growing zone is Cadillac, Michigan?

Cadillac plans for −31°F, MFTC zone 3b, with a typical winter of −13°F. USDA's 2023 map puts it in zone 5a (−20°F to −15°F), because USDA's zones are based on an average winter's coldest night and ours on the bad night we plan for.

What zone is Big Rapids, Michigan?

Big Rapids plans for −30°F, MFTC zone 3b, with a typical winter of −12°F. USDA's 2023 map calls it 5b (−15°F to −10°F), based on an average winter. The Big Rapids station's record is −36°F (February 11, 1899).

What zone is Mount Pleasant, MI?

Mount Pleasant plans for −16°F, MFTC zone 5a, with a typical winter of −5°F, the warmest town on this map. USDA's 2023 map puts it in 6a (−10°F to −5°F). That number leans on the Central Michigan University station in the city, so leave a few degrees of margin on open farm ground.

When is the last frost in Cadillac, MI?

NOAA station records for 1991 to 2020 put the Cadillac airport's median last 32°F frost on May 22 and its last 28°F frost on May 10; one year in ten the last 32°F comes June 3 or later. Big Rapids runs about a week earlier and Mount Pleasant three weeks earlier.

Can you grow cherries in Cadillac, Michigan?

Yes. Tart cherries like Evan's Bali (−45°F) and Meteor (−40°F) have plenty of room over Cadillac's −31°F planning low, and the sweet cherries Lapins and Gold (−35°F) clear it by 4°F; Rainier (−30°F) is worth a try. Sweet cherries bloom early and Cadillac's last 28°F frost comes around May 10, so give them your highest ground.

When does Lake Cadillac lose its ice?

The Cadillac News has logged the day the lake is more than half open since 1934 (it started for betting pools). Ice-out averaged April 14 in the 1950s and April 3 in the 2010s; the earliest was March 9, 2000 and the latest April 28, 1972. An early ice-out doesn't mean the frost is done.

Warmer spots, colder spots

Here's the number to plan for at named places on the map, warmest first. Each one is the 1-in-30-year low for that spot: the cold hardiness calculator's number from the same weather stations, sharpened by our microclimate model for the ground right there. Zone is our MFTC zone, set by that one bad night, not by an average.

The weather stations behind it

These are the long-record stations in and around this map, with each one's own numbers since the winter of 1995-96. The last column is this map's 30-year number right at the station, which won't match the station exactly: it's a blend of the stations around it, the way the calculator works everywhere.

Source: NOAA records through ACIS, winters 1995-96 through 2025-26. What the "carried forward," "gaps filled" and AWOS rows mean is explained in how our microclimate maps work.