I would think the stonefruits (cherries, etc.) would suffer from poor springtime pollination and then from ripe fruit cracking in June and July moisture.

There must be some kind of maritime blueberry that would do well. I don't know how close to the coast the native evergreen huckleberry grows. Obviously a fruiting shrub like salal does well there.

People not familiar with the Oregon coast may be surprised to know that when the weather conditions are as described by skyastara, the temperature on the south coast, near Bandon, may be 90 degrees, and not necessarily in the summertime. Subtropical fruits can be grown there.

Thank you.

Larry, I am, in fact, in Bandon. We had an extreme heat wave last summer, which resulted in 2 days of 82 degree heat. Apart from that, if it reaches 64 degrees, the locals are commenting about the unusual heat.

However, Bandon is full of extreme microclimates. Several yards east from where I live is enough to make a significant and noticeable change in the summer temperatures (due to buffering of ocean winds). There are definitely areas within Bandon which might reach 90 degrees at times, while at my house it will be 60 degrees and moderately breezy.

Of course, when you say "near Bandon" I can agree with your statement unequivocally, depending upon what you mean by "near".

I know that huckleberries grow well. Blueberries do well enough, not fantastically, but I'm not clear on which varieties to plant.

Rosemary grows fantastically well here, which surprises me. I have seen several fig trees which look healthy, but didn't seem to be bearing well if at all. Many tiny fruits but I don't know that they have hope of ripening (this was in October). Of course I don't know what cultivar they were.

I would love to grow cherries, but I just don't know whether that is possible here.

There is a bush cherry called Carmine Jewel that grows large tart sweet cherries. I have also Crimson Passion which is better but harder to find. They are hardy to zone 2b.

Beach plums might work well in the salt air.

The species Ribes will thrive there. Black and Red Currants and the Gooseberries as well. I would watch for Scab and Mildew on Apple trees and forget most Stone Fruits.

I meant Brookings, sorry for confusing those coastal cities.

Hard to believe you are a Z5 1 mile from the ocean. Average low should be much warmer than a Z5.

My sister grows fruit that close to the ocean just north of Eureka CA and it rarely freezes there. She can grow most everything that requires less heat than peaches and aprictos. Euro and Jap plums do OK. Fireblight affects some pears in a non-fatal but very dwarfing manner.

You probably know what you're talking about as far as your microclimate but it's just hard for me to believe. How could the weather change so radically just a couple hundred miles up coast?

harvestman micro climates can be a really weird thing. When I lived in NorCal I worked in the Hurricane Gulch area in Sausalito Cal for awhile.
The winds pushed the coastal fog up over a few thousand feet hi hills and through a gap high in the hills. The cold air would descend quickly toward Sausalito and the bay and dissipate before it hit sea level.
It was not uncommon during the summer for it to be a clear calm 80deg and sunny day in Sausalito and 1-2 miles away where I was working it would 30-40deg colder and damp with thick fog and Hurricane force winds with no sun in sight.

Micro climates can be a crazy thing.

I was raised in CA and go back there a lot, I know about how the weather changes when you get above the fog line, and with the rugged coast that can be a very quick ascent.

I'm talking about a Zone 5 with an average low between something like -5 to -15 F. Are we talking about a different formula for climate zones here?

My sister lives in that cool, coastal very northern CA climate, and I used to live in Mendocino County, but I was inland where it was almost desert.

Medlars are also very late blooming, and you might actually like the fruit. it takes getting used to but is pretty good.
Should do great on the Oregon Coast.

harvestman I was just saying there can be some really weird micro climates or like in the Hurricane Gulch area that others are not aware of.
The Hurricane Gulch area is different than anything else I have seen and most people even those who live in Marin have no idea.

It sounded like skyastra was talking about a nano-climate like Hurricane Gulch. Not that he was describing the same phenomenon but the same kind of affect where its much colder or warmer really close by. Not like driving from Novato to SF but much more localized and more severe.

Here is a link that might be useful: Winds and fog on the Bay

Bandon, Oregon is indeed zone 5 per the Sunset Book system and zone 9 per USDA.

Extreme heat spells in all seasons on the southern Oregon coast are the result of wind coming off the Siskiyou Mountains.

OK, that explains it. In the east we don't refer to Sunset Magazines system so that's where my confusion came from.

Does anyone know the Sunset Z. classification for Arcata CA, where my sister lives? She's a short walk from the ocean and grows a wide range of blueberries quite sucessfully as well as the other species I mentioned.

Summer temps don't usually go above the 60's there either.

Sunset zone 17 extends into Sourhern Oregon a bit past Brookings. The switch to zone 5 is related to both latitude and local topology.

I used to live in half moon bay where the July average high is 62F, I moved because not only did I hate freezing my butt off on the 4th of July but also because growing fruits was so limiting.

However, there are a number of fruits that will ripen in cool Summer weather. Cherries will work provided it doesn't rain when they ripen. But that's not an issue in Bandon because the cool weather not only delays bloom but also delays ripening.

Apples are also a great choice, especially Summer apples, the cool weather will delay many of them to ripen later. For example Gravensteins are outstanding in cool Summer areas.

I've heard that frost peach will work in cool Summer areas. Then there are pears, fireblight is not an issue because its usually too cold for the bacteria to grow.

Plums are great to grow in cooler areas, but you will need to spray agressively for brown rot.

Zone 5 is NOT coastal Oregon unless your using some different map... That is like zone 7 or 8... Zone 5 is Milwaukee, WI or Chicago, IL... Coastal OR is very mild and even snowfall is rare down to the beach. I believe some palm trees can survive along with hardy bananas in Brookings, OR area.

That would be a tough climate. Why don't you see what does well in San Francisco area or even London, England... I think you may need to grow anything heat loving under plastic/glass like they do with sweet cherries in Britain.

What about kiwis? They should work.

I'm speaking from experience of visiting my sister and tending her trees just about 100 miles south of the Oregon border, and 2 blocks from the sea. She grows and regularly harvests pretty good Satsuma plums (without ever spraying for brown rot or anything else) and not just summer apples but her favorite- Goldrush, which she is enjoying out of storage now. She's not found an apple she can't grow, not that she's tried more than about 20 varieties. Tompkins King is a favorite in her area.

She grows several pears but Seckel does in fact get fireblight or at least something that looks identical to it that severely stunts the tree without killing it. Too bad, because it's the one pear on her property that gets good sugar. Cherries and a kind of wild "cherry plum" plum do well

I suspect the brown rot problem is more prevalent with later Europeans but she doesn't grow any besides a damson. I bet Castleton would do OK where she is.

You want to keep the trees very open and grow them in "full sun" so the light that actually is available is available.

Sunset has Gold Beach to Brookings mapped in a different climate than the rest of the Oregon coast. Sunset's climate zone maps are on their web site.

Have a look at this.

Here is a link that might be useful: Growing Tree Fruits and Nuts in the Home Orchard - EC 819 - Oregon State University Extension Service

You'll obtain advice specific to your location from the Coos County Extension Office of Oregon State University, at (541) 572-5263 or 631 Alder St, Myrtle Point OR 97458.

Franktank, you're confusing USDA zone 5 with sunset zone 5, these are two very different climate zones.

Harvestman is right, mostxapples should do well there. The challenging fruits might be certain species of grapes, peaches and apricots, and some pluots. This I can deduce from the fact that these are difficult to ripen in the cooler calif coStal climates.

Thisisme is right about the micro climates in marin. You have hurricane gulch where it is cold abd windy and just a mile or so away have the banana belt.

I have a place in sausailot. Great views but too chilly so I moved further north (san rafael) where it is warmer.

I have an excellent book on Oregon. Amazing amount of climates in that state. I always wanted to move out there, but i'd settle on the other side of the mtns, in the drier, hotter areas of the state. You guys can thank all those volcanoes for excellent soil that exists out there.

Sunset Western Garden Book has multipage table under Apple. Varieties described have Sunset climate zones thought suitable indicated for each.

Here is a link that might be useful: Climate Zones - Garden - Sunset.com

Sorry, I didn't see that this thread had grown!

I was indeed speaking of Sunset's zones when I said that I'm in zone 5. I apologize for causing confusion. I didn't make that number up lol, it is what my Sunset Western Garden Book states for my location.

The problem, as I see it, is not the hardiness issue but the ripening/lack of heat issue. The climate here is wonderful for me, but not so agreeable for most fruits (I believe).

Yes, the climate here is vastly different from that in Eureka or Brookings or Gold Beach or even Coos Bay, which is the nearest city to Bandon that is on the coast. If I drive 25 miles north on 101, I am in Coos Bay, where during the summer it is commonly 5-10 degrees warmer, or more, than at my house in Bandon.

Just to erase any doubt, here is a chart that I found, but please keep in mind that Bandon has many microclimates and that I am in one of the very coolest (during summer)- 67 isn't an average high at my specific location during July, but rather an unusually high temperature http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl?orband

I remembered that my next door neighbor has a purple leafed plum tree which makes thousands of small but intensely flavored and sweet plums around July or August. Maybe I can get some rootstock and use some cuttings from that tree.