Fruit Trees for Port Huron, Marysville, St. Clair and the Blue Water Shore, Michigan

In the February 2015 cold snap, NOAA's Port Huron station, at 590 feet and barely above the lake, got down to −10°F. The Richmond station, 20 miles away at 765 feet, read −24°F, and on February 21 it hit −29°F. Picking fruit trees for Port Huron, Marysville, St. Clair and the Blue Water Shore starts with that gap: Lake Huron and the river keep a narrow strip mild, and the flat clay farm country behind it runs a lot colder.

This map takes in Port Huron and Fort Gratiot; the river towns of Marysville, St. Clair, Marine City and Algonac; New Baltimore and the Anchor Bay shore; inland St. Clair County from Kimball to Memphis and Capac; northern Macomb from Romeo, Armada and Richmond down to Shelby Township; and the Ontario side from Sarnia to Port Lambton. Put your address in the box on the map for the number at your own place, along with the list of what we sell that's come through that cold.

How to read this map

Click anywhere and the first number you get is the 30-year planning low: what our cold hardiness calculator would say for that spot, with a nudge for the ground around it. Treat it as a cautious number to plan with. It isn't a record and it doesn't tell you how often that night shows up. Next to it is the MFTC zone (the same number in half zones) and the typical winter, an average year's coldest night, which is closer to what USDA's zones measure. The spring layer compares each spot with Port Huron on a calm, clear night at bloom, in degrees warmer or colder.

Port Huron, the reference, plans for −14°F, MFTC zone 5b, with a typical winter of −1°F. Across the map's growing ground the middle value is −20°F (4b), and half the ground falls between −23°F and −17°F. The mild end hugs the water: Canfield Manor, by Mount Clemens, plans for −12°F, the warmest named place we checked, and Port Huron, Algonac, Point Lakeview on Anchor Bay, Utica and Shelby Township plan for −14°F. The cold end is inland. Memphis plans for −26°F (4a), the coldest of any named place we checked, with Kimball and Brockway at −26°F and Smiths Creek and Capac at −25°F.

Why the map looks the way it does

The land here climbs in steps. From the river front and the St. Clair Flats delta at 575 to 600 feet it rises through a staircase of old glacial-lake beaches to the uplands around Romeo and Bruce Township at 800 to 1,150 feet; Frank Leverett mapped the steps in 1938 and 1939: the Algonquin beach at 605 to 608 feet through north Port Huron, Warren beaches near 680 to 709 feet in Wales and Columbus townships, the Whittlesey beach at 750 to 755 feet in Richmond and Wales townships. Between the ridges is flat clay. The St. Clair soil series, established here in 1929, is clay loam over clay with slow permeability and a perched water table 2 to 3 feet down from March through May.

Lake Huron is the big player. Its surface is at 577 feet, its average depth 195 feet, and a lake that deep holds a lot of fall heat into winter; Scott and Huff's 1997 study of Great Lakes effects put the boost at about 7.2°F in mean winter lows near Lakes Huron and Michigan. Sarnia's climate summary credits the lake with milder winters, a later first fall frost and a longer, cooler spring. The St. Clair River is that lake water on the move, about 182,000 cubic feet a second, deep and fast near the Blue Water Bridge. NOAA station records show what it buys: Port Huron's average winter low is −1°F against −9°F at Richmond, and the Richmond station runs a median 6°F colder than Port Huron on the year's coldest night.

The mild strip is thin, though. Two stations in our table carry the Port Huron name, and their 30-year numbers are −13°F for the one at 590 feet and −27°F for the automated airport station at 650 feet. Back from the shore the map falls off fast: Port Huron plans −14°F, Tappan, 2.5 miles west, −17°F, West Tappan −21°F, and Kimball, about 7 miles west, −26°F. Michigan State's 1936 orchard-site bulletin found the state's best fruit sites within 3 or 4 miles of Lake Michigan, and the same kind of reach shows here. Out on the flat, open clay there's no slope to drain the cold off, and on a still, clear night the ground makes its own cold as it loses heat to the sky.

Lake St. Clair works differently. It averages about 11 feet deep and is usually iced from December into March, and a lake shelters its shore only while it's open, so we don't credit Anchor Bay with much midwinter warmth. The stations on that side run mild anyway (a 30-year number of −14°F at the Mount Clemens station, −15°F at Algonac), and we haven't found a published explanation for it.

The spring layer follows the same lines. Most of the shoreline reads even with Port Huron to 3°F warmer on a still bloom night, while the inland clay flats read 2°F to 5°F colder, and Ray Center, in northern Macomb, 7°F colder, the coldest spring reading of any named place we checked. The best spring ground we found is the high country just west of Romeo, where Orchard Hills, 150 feet above its floor, reads 7°F warmer than Port Huron. Big cold water also holds bloom back along the shore in spring, the old fruit-belt effect, while keeping nights there from freezing as late.

Port Huron, Fort Gratiot and the foot of Lake Huron

Port Huron sits at about 604 feet where Lake Huron empties into the St. Clair River, with the Black River splitting the city in half. It plans for −14°F (5b), typical −1°F; within 3 miles the floor plans −15°F and the coldest tenth of the ground −18°F. Leverett traced the Algonquin beach ridge, sand and gravel at 605 to 608 feet, through the city and Port Huron Township near Elmwood Street and Gratiot Road, with fine sand north of Elmwood up to 610 to 614 feet and flat gravel within inches of the surface north of the Black River. The low spots are the McNeil Creek swale past Palmer Park, below 596 feet, and Harrington Swamp, below 600 feet over peat reported about 30 feet deep. Peat and wet, grassy ground are frost-prone; plant on the sand ridges. South Park, on the way to Marysville, plans −17°F but reads 3°F warmer than Port Huron at bloom, and the Grand Trunk Business Park −15°F and 2°F warmer.

North of the city, Fort Gratiot Township runs along the lake shore at about 607 feet. Keewahdin, the lakeside resort developed in 1914, plans for −17°F and reads 3°F warmer at bloom; Gardendale, the old railroad stop near the township center, plans −18°F and reads 2°F colder. In this strip, at −14°F to −18°F, everything we sell rated −20°F or colder clears: Bing cherry, Santa Rosa plum, Mericrest nectarine, every peach on our list. With the lake holding bloom back, the shore ridges are good apricot ground: Tomcot and Wenatchee Moorpark (−30°F) on a sand ridge near the water.

Marysville, St. Clair, Marine City and Algonac

Marysville, about 610 feet on the west bank across from Corunna, is the odd one on the river. Its center plans for −24°F (4b), typical −8°F, though it reads even with Port Huron at bloom; within 3 miles the floor plans −23°F and the warmest tenth of the ground −19°F. That's well colder than its river neighbors, so plant the older neighborhoods along Huron Boulevard and the Salt Block off M-29 from the −25°F and colder list: Redstar peach, Rainier cherry, Italian plum.

St. Clair, at 584 feet where the Pine River comes in, plans for −18°F (5a), typical −4°F, and reads 2°F warmer than Port Huron at bloom; within 3 miles the benches plan −14°F and the coldest tenth −22°F. Leverett noted a possible moraine ridge at 612 to 613 feet near Hill Street Cemetery and fine sand dunes south of Hillsdale Cemetery, and clay from the Pine River banks fed the old brickyards. In East China Township he mapped gravel bars at 598 to 601 feet, and a fine-gravel bar on Broadbridge Road stood 27 feet above the river in 1934.

Marine City, at the mouth of the Belle River, plans for −17°F (5a) and reads 2°F warmer at bloom, with the old French ribbon farms running back from the river. Algonac, at 581 feet at the mouth of the river on the delta, plans for −14°F (5b), typical −1°F, and reads 1°F warmer; the Algonac treatment plant station hasn't recorded colder than −13°F (the 2025-26 winter), and its average winter low is −3°F. Pointe aux Tremble plans −16°F, Pearl Beach and Roberts Landing −17°F. West of Algonac, the low spots named North Island and Middle Island plan −16°F and −17°F but read 6°F colder at bloom.

Ice is the river towns' spring problem. Lake Huron ice drifts down the river and piles up at the delta near Algonac; the April 5, 1984 jam clogged about 20 miles of river for 24 days. Jams flooded homes and yards along the river in 2021, and strong north winds push the ice onto shore at Marine City, East China and Algonac. A shore beside ice in April gets none of open water's frost protection. From St. Clair to Algonac at −14°F to −18°F, Bing and every peach clear; put the early bloomers on the highest, best-drained ground you have and keep the trees out of the yards that flood.

Anchor Bay, New Baltimore and Mount Clemens

New Baltimore, at 584 feet on the north shore of Anchor Bay, was a resort town in the 1860s to 1880s, and about 31 percent of the city is water. It plans for −15°F (5b), typical −3°F, and reads 2°F warmer than Port Huron at bloom. Along the bay shore the numbers barely move: Anchor Bay Shores −15°F and 3°F warmer, Anchorville −16°F and 3°F warmer, Fair Haven −16°F and even, Point Lakeview and Anchor Bay Gardens −14°F. Ira Township is flat, rising slightly from the shore, with marshes along the lake and Swan Creek.

At the south edge, Mount Clemens is the warmest corner we checked: Canfield Manor plans −12°F and Clemens Park −14°F. The Mount Clemens station at the Selfridge base has 99 years on file, a 30-year number of −14°F and a record of −24°F from February 10, 1912. Inland, Chesterfield Township plans −15°F and Macomb Township −14°F, but Macomb Township's flat ground reads 4°F colder than Port Huron at bloom. Anything rated −20°F or colder fits this corner, and on the −15°F and warmer lots a Chicago Hardy Fig (−10°F) set against a south wall is worth a try.

Romeo, Washington Township and the Macomb uplands

Romeo sits at about 810 feet at the southeast corner of Bruce Township, with East Pond Creek crossing its east side on the way to the North Branch of the Clinton. The village plans for −19°F (5a), typical −6°F, and reads 1°F colder than Port Huron at bloom; within 3 miles the floor plans −21°F and the benches −18°F. The subdivisions on the high ground just west of the village hold the best spring readings of any named places we checked. Orchard Hills, at 913 feet and 150 feet above its floor on a 6 percent slope, plans −19°F and reads 7°F warmer than Port Huron; Applewood Valley, also 150 feet up, plans −18°F and reads 5°F warmer, The Villas at Copperwood 4°F warmer, Wingate 2°F. The Enclave, down on the floor south of town at 710 feet, plans −16°F but reads 4°F colder.

Washington Township, on a bench 150 feet above its floor at 847 feet, plans −16°F and reads 3°F warmer at bloom. Westview Orchards there grows apples, peaches, cherries, pears, nectarines and berries. Farther south, Shelby Township and Utica plan −14°F (5b), though Shelby Woods Lake reads 5°F colder at bloom on its river-bottom ground.

This is peach country, and the planning low isn't what limits it: every peach we sell clears −19°F. Plant Glohaven, Redstar and Risingstar (−25°F), Contender (−30°F) and Siberian C (−35°F) on the high ground west of town, along with Harlayne apricot (−30°F) and Lapins cherry (−35°F). Keep the floor around The Enclave for apples and bush fruit. If you're south and west of here in Rochester Hills or Troy, the Ann Arbor and Metro Detroit map covers you.

Armada, Richmond, Memphis and the inland townships

West and north of the river the clay plain is open farm country and the coldest ground we checked. Armada, at about 750 feet on the East Branch of Coon Creek, plans for −23°F (4b), typical −7°F, and reads 2°F colder at bloom. Richmond, at 732 feet, plans −21°F (4b) and reads 3°F colder; Muttonville on its southeast side plans −20°F. The Richmond 4 NNW station, at 765 feet, carries a 30-year number of −26°F and a record of −29°F (February 21, 2015). Memphis, at 750 feet on a bluff over the Belle River, plans −26°F (4a), though it reads only 1°F colder at bloom. Ray Center plans −19°F but reads 7°F colder in spring.

In St. Clair County, Kimball plans −26°F (4a), Smiths Creek −25°F (4a), Goodells −23°F, Emmett −23°F, Riley Center −25°F, and Capac, in the northwest corner, −25°F. Lambs and Wales Center plan −24°F, and Lambs reads 5°F colder at bloom. The ground to look for is the old beach ridges in Wales, Columbus and Richmond townships; the main Warren beach in Wales Township has 15 to 20 feet of relief. A ridge drains both water and cold air better than the clay flat beside it.

Out here, stick to what's rated −30°F or colder: Honeycrisp and Haralson (−45°F), Northern Spy (−30°F), Meteor tart cherry (−40°F), and on a ridge Toka (−45°F) and Superior (−35°F) plums, Summercrisp pear (−45°F), Veteran (−30°F) and Siberian C peaches. The −25°F peaches are worth a try on a ridge in Armada or Richmond.

Sarnia, Point Edward and the Ontario shore

Across the river, Sarnia sits on the east shore at the foot of Lake Huron, mostly flat with sandy beaches, Canatara Park and Lake Chipican, and Chemical Valley south of downtown; its soils are mainly clay. The map plans Sarnia for −15°F (5b), even with Port Huron at bloom, and Point Edward, the village at the river head, −15°F. NOAA's Sarnia Airport record, with 37 years on file, is −20°F (January 18, 1976), with a typical yearly low of −8°F and a median last spring 32°F of May 1. Down the river, Courtright plans −18°F, Sombra −16°F and Port Lambton −17°F, while Corunna, across from Marysville, plans −21°F (4b) and Mooretown −19°F. Walpole Island First Nation, Bkejwanong, sits on the delta islands at the river mouth.

Spring frost and bloom on the Blue Water shore

NOAA station records, 1991 to 2020 medians:

• Port Huron: last 32°F April 23, last 28°F April 6, first fall 32°F November 1; 185 frost-free days; one year in ten the last 32°F comes May 10.
• Mount Clemens: April 29, April 21, October 22; 169 days; late year May 22.
• Sarnia Airport: May 1, April 18, October 15; 164 days; late year May 21.
• Richmond 4 NNW: May 3, April 23, October 17; 164 days; late year May 25.

Port Huron gets three more weeks of frost-free season than Richmond, and that's the lake. In spring the water stays cold, which keeps buds from pushing early, and it keeps the nights near the shore from dropping as far. On a calm, clear bloom night the frost settles first on the inland flats, the delta and the river bottoms, the places reading cold on the spring layer. Michigan State's Mark Longstroth puts the damage point for open blossoms of most tree fruits at about 28°F. Haskap flowers take 19°F wide open, and apples need only about 15 percent of their blossoms to set a crop, which is why apples and haskap belong on the colder ground and apricots, peaches and sweet cherries on the shore ridges and the hills west of Romeo.

The damage on record here comes two ways. In May 2013 MSU Extension's Bob Tritten reported as much as 50 to 60 percent apple bud kill in southeast Michigan and growers ran helicopters, wind machines, orchard heaters and bonfires. And in the 2013-14 winter, cold killed most of the peach buds in Macomb, Oakland and Lapeer counties: Tritten said not one of about 60 southeast Michigan peach growers had a peach, Westview got four peaches from more than 35 acres, and Verellen Orchards in Romeo lost 5 of about 12 acres of peach trees outright, with younger trees surviving better than older ones. Blake's Orchard in Armada fights frost with wind machines and overhead sprays that coat the buds in ice; wind machines only help on still, clear nights.

What the weather records say

NOAA station records here go back to the 1890s. The coldest readings on file: −29°F at Richmond (February 21, 2015), −25°F at Jeddo, at the map's edge (February 5, 1918), −24°F at Mount Clemens (February 10, 1912), −22°F at Wallaceburg, Ontario (1915 and 1918), −20°F at Sarnia Airport (1976), −19°F at Port Huron (January 19, 1994), and −18°F at Courtright (1984 and 1994). The January 19, 1994 cold snap was an even one, with Wallaceburg at −20°F and Port Huron, Mount Clemens, Courtright and Sarnia Airport all within 2°F of it. February 2015 split the map, with Richmond at −24°F, the Sarnia stations at −18°F to −19°F and Port Huron at −10°F in the same cold snap. Spreads like that come on calm, clear nights, when flat inland ground pulls away from the shore. Port Huron gets about 35.5 inches of snow a year.

USDA zones come from an average winter's coldest night, so they read warmer than these. On our map the water's edge (Port Huron, Algonac, New Baltimore, Mount Clemens, Sarnia) is 5b, St. Clair, Marine City and Romeo are 5a, Marysville, Armada and Richmond 4b, and Memphis, Kimball, Smiths Creek and Capac 4a.

What you can grow here

Winter rules out very little here: only about two dozen things we sell are rated warmer than the coldest named place we checked, at −26°F. Choose by site and bloom.

The water's edge, −12°F to −15°F (Port Huron, Algonac, Anchor Bay, Mount Clemens, Shelby, Sarnia). Anything rated −20°F or colder, including Bing, Santa Rosa, Fantasia and Mericrest nectarines, St. Edmund's Pippin apple, Blushingstar peach, Tomcot and Goldrich apricots, Stella cherry, Honeysweet pear (−30°F), Persimmon (Montana Trial) (−25°F). Where the number is −15°F or warmer, Chicago Hardy Fig is worth a try by a south wall.

The river towns and Romeo country, −16°F to −21°F (St. Clair, Marine City, Romeo, Washington Township, Richmond). Everything rated −25°F or colder: Redstar, Glohaven and Risingstar peaches, Hardired nectarine, Rainier and Lapins cherries, Harlayne apricot, Stanley plum, Bartlett pear (−35°F). Bing and Baldwin apple clear the −20°F and warmer spots and are worth a try in the rest.

Marysville and the inland townships, −22°F to −26°F (Armada, Memphis, Kimball, Smiths Creek, Emmett, Capac). Rated −30°F or colder: Honeycrisp, Northern Spy, Liberty (−35°F), Montana Black Currant (−50°F), honeyberry (−50°F), and on a ridge Siberian C, Veteran and Contender peaches, Westcot apricot (−45°F), Toka and Superior plums and Luscious pear (−40°F). Things rated −25°F are worth a try on a beach ridge.

For plums, Toka is a good pollenizer for Superior; the pollination maps cover apples, pears and the rest. The soil is the other thing to plan around. On St. Clair clay loam the water table sits 2 to 3 feet down through spring, and the lakeplain is sand over clay that floods in spring and dries out in summer, so check drainage before you plant: dig 2 feet down, fill the hole with water, and once it drains, fill it again; under 10 hours to empty means you're fine. Plant on a ridge or a slope, never in the swale, ideally facing east (it warms fast after a frosty spring night), and clear brush that would hold cold air at the low end. Snow over the roots is their best winter cover; on bare ground in a hard freeze, mulch them. In the 4a and 4b country, ease off watering from mid-August so the wood hardens before fall.

Fruit history here

Westview Orchards in Washington Township, founded in 1813 and six generations in the same family, is Macomb County's oldest family farm. Romeo has held the Michigan Peach Festival since 1931, started to promote the local orchards, and Armada has held its agricultural fair every August since 1872; Blake's Orchard and Cider Mill there was three generations and 75 years old in 2021. As of 2014, Macomb, Oakland and Lapeer were southeast Michigan's main peach counties, with about 60 peach growers. French ribbon farms once ran back from the river at Marine City, and the Macomb Orchard Trail, which starts in Richmond, runs 23.5 miles on an old rail line.

Questions people ask

What zone is Port Huron?

Our map plans Port Huron for −14°F, MFTC zone 5b, with a typical winter of −1°F. A few miles back from the water it's much colder: Kimball plans −26°F (4a), and Marysville, just down the river, −24°F (4b). USDA's zones run warmer because they're built on an average winter, not the bad night.

When is the last frost in Port Huron?

The median last 32°F at NOAA's Port Huron station is April 23 (1991 to 2020), the last 28°F April 6, and one year in ten the last 32°F comes as late as May 10. Inland at Richmond the median is May 3, and the frost-free season is 164 days against Port Huron's 185.

Does Lake Huron delay spring bloom?

Yes. The deep lake stays cold into spring, which holds back bloom along the shore and keeps nights near the water from freezing as late; Sarnia's climate summary credits it with a longer, cooler spring. That makes the shore ridges good spots for apricots and peaches.

Can you grow peaches near Romeo?

Yes. Romeo plans for −19°F, and every peach we sell clears it, from the −25°F Redstar to the −35°F Siberian C. The usual risk is the crop: the 2013-14 winter killed most peach buds in Macomb, Oakland and Lapeer counties. Plant them on the high ground west of the village, which reads up to 7°F warmer than Port Huron at bloom.

When does Lake St. Clair freeze?

Ice usually forms first in the Anchor Bay shallows, and by early December navigation is very limited, according to NOAA's Coast Pilot. The heaviest ice comes in late February or early March, and the lake is usually open by early April. At about 11 feet deep on average, it gives the shore little warmth once it freezes.

Why is it so much colder inland from Port Huron?

Lake Huron's warmth only reaches a few miles. NOAA's Port Huron station at 590 feet has a 30-year number of −13°F; the automated airport station at 650 feet has −27°F, and the Richmond station runs a median 6°F colder than Port Huron. Flat, open clay with no slope to drain it makes its own cold on still nights.

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.