Michigan is the 6th largest producer of peaches. They grow fine here. So you are already at one of the best places for peaches (6th out of 50 ain't bad!). I guess it depends how far up in the state. The southern states mentioned are very nice places to live. Although the summers are pretty hot. They would probably be the best options for the range of fruit mentioned. maybe northern Florida too. Their are hundreds of types of pears, many taste fantastic! I would not judge them all on one cultivar. I live in south eastern Michigan and grow sweet and tart cherries, peaches, plums, pluots, raspberries, currants, honeyberries, blackberries, elderberries, strawberries, blueberries, gooseberries, groundcherries, magnolia vine berries, and dogwood cherries. Many more types I could grow. But I'm out of room in the freezer! My dream would be to spend summers here, as the weather is just about perfect, and winters in Belize.

You can grow fruit almost anywhere it is just a matter of getting the right trees. In Texas where I live depending on the area you can grow anything you can in California.

There is no place even close to CA. I moved there in 2000 just to grow fruit but left after 4 yrs because the air was so bad I was getting sick. I've grown fruit in west Texas since 1970. If you like freezes, hail, and wind you'll love this area. I now have a greenhouse and this is a great area for that. I think I have one of the best fruit production systems anywhere including CA. A writeup is here:

http://www.davewilson.com/home-gardens/growing-fruits-and-nuts/cultural-practices/greenhouse-fruit-growing/greenhouse-fruit-production-in-west-texas

To grow a mix of subtropicals and deciduous fruits look in AZ. The lower elevations are very hot in summer but it's doable. Or you could have an orchard at 1000ft and 4500ft to grow different fruits. AZ has much less freezes and hail than TX.

If you want mainly subtropical and tropicals think Florida. But there and the rest of the southeast require a lot of spraying to grow inferior deciduous fruits.

The best eating varieties of peach, nectarine, grape, pluot, and some other fruits are those bred in CA. Reason, breeders can concentrate on eating quality rather than cold tolerance and disease resistance. The stuff suitable for cold and humid areas just isn't as good plus those areas have less control of water, an important factor in growing highest quality fruit.

Washington state is the second best fruit area in USA, central and eastern parts. But they have cold winters. Better than MI but not CA.

What about the Roseburg or Medford area of southern OR? Not nearly as hot as CA but still pretty reasonable winters with dry summers.

Greg:

That's a great area for pears. But the season is pretty short and nights are cool forever.

IMO if an area can't grow great nectarines then it's not the best fruit growing area. Most people have never had a good one much less great.

South Florida is one option, but stay at Zone 9B or so. 8b or 9a will be a bit too cold for some of the stuff you want to grow, and 10a/b may be hard to get the chill hours of some of the low-chill pome fruits. 9B may be a little chilly for mango trees, but people reportedly grow them as far north as Orlando. With a good south-facing wall or suitable micro climate, or some type of protection, it should be possible.

Florida is a citrus-growing state, and in 9b, you should be able to grow all but the most cold sensitive citrus. Thankfully, there are many hybrids that allow you to expand lemon and lime growing further north. If I could grow only one citrus tree, it'd probably be 'ugli' tangelos, but if I had the right climate and land, I'd grow lemons, limes, and pomelos as well.

As for peaches, I can say that I've never had a Florida-grown tree-ripened melting peach that was bad. I can't say the same for grocery store and fruit stand peaches. There could be disease issues with peach trees in the area, although there are supposedly fairly new low-chill cultivars that don't have disease issues here. We had an unknown cultivar that reliably fruited for over twenty years before declining. Right now, I have a Flordaking, which gives us large peaches that are great, and a UFO (flat/doghnut-shaped saucer) peach that has always had frosts or freezes kill off the majority of its blooms and immature fruit each year.

Apple trees, I'd say, it's best to forget about them in Florida. There are a few varieties said to be good for the area: anna, golden dorsett, ein shemer, tropic sweet, adina, and a few others. Tropic Sweet is said to be like macintosh, but patents apparently have made it very difficult to obtain. I've been trying to get one locally for a few years, and the licensed nurseries/propagators always seem to be out of them. My 'Anna' apple is always being attacked by aphids. I stopped fertilizing it and just prune out the worst branches a few times a year. The quality and flavor goes from tart to bland and mealy in a short time, with a narrow window of perfect ripeness. Even then, it's not nearly as good as a great golden delicious. Diseases and issues related to apples makes them not really worth messing with, unless you just have an extra area for experimental plants.

For pears, there are a lot of pears to choose from. We no longer are limited to hard pears, although some of the hard, bland pears make the best pear pies, better than any store-bought apple bought. I grow a soft pear variety, Baldwin, which is said to need only 150 chill hours. You have to pick them a week or two early and let them ripen in storage, but when they're ready, they're moist and buttery, with a flavor reminiscent of bosc, something we can't grow here, due to disease issues. A couple other soft pear varieties are Flordahome and Southern Bartlett, albeit I've not tasted either myself.

There are some edible banana plants that are said to be hardy to zone 7b, like the dwarf orinoco, but the question is not whether the plants will survive in 7b, or even 8, but can they produce mature fruit before a frost or freeze gets the fruit. I've been growing an unknown variety (passed down from neighbor to neighbor for 30+ years) and have only had a few batches of bananas that got full sized, or close to it, before a frost or freeze zaps them, and that's with frost protection behind a south-facing wall. So here, they're more of a novelty item than anything else. In zone 9b, they would probably would mature the fruit on-tree.

Anyway, just something to think about.

MI may not grow the best peaches but tasting some from a farmer's market I wanted to grow them like my family did when i was young. They were so good, with complex flavors. So flavorful, unreal. I'm totally satisfied with MI peaches. Cherries too. Now if I can just get my trees to produce! I do like the summers here a lot, they rival any state. Conditions are near perfect. But man these winters are long and cold, and I'm getting tired of them. They do make the spring a wonderful time though. After all the snow those spring blooms smell so sweet. I remember one summer I was really sick and in the hospital for 3 weeks. When I stepped outside for the first time in three weeks, wow, the smell of the grass alone was so nice! I'll never stop appreciating being outside, I spent the last two days outside, wonderful! The garden is coming alone fine. I'll see you in the garden!

All places grow good fruit. You just have to adapt to local conditions and be adventurous. We have imported so many types of temperate and tropical fruit trees from all over the world, any place except perhaps Death Valley will grow you a dozen different fruits. IMHO, there are more important issues, such as being able to grow without pesticides, and have fruits throughout the year. I do not quite make it here in Michigan, as storage apples run out in May, and mulberries start in late June.

Might be worth the effort to get the CA license if your dream is growing fresh fruit (especially stone fruit & subtropicals)

Stone and pome fruits (and all manner of berries) grow wonderfully well in WA state - eastern WA is one of the largest fruit producing areas in the country. Western WA has somewhat different growing conditions but also offers a very wide range of fruit types.

You are going to find it tough to find a single location that will produce both semitropical-tropical fruit types as well as the standard stone and pome varieties common to many areas of the country. They just require very different climate conditions so one seldom sees citrus or bananas growing along side cherries or apples. Yoiu are going to have to make some choices as to the extent of your selections or invest in a greenhouse to over winter and grow the more tropical types.

I disagree with getting licensed for CA, with the 4 year drought, water is
highly restricted and expensive. I doubt you could start a backyard orchard
there now, it would cost a lot in water bills, if even allowed. You would need
to use grey water. I guess if willing to slowly add trees, you could do it. Or
out wait this drought for a few more years. CA farmers now have water
restrictions, it's looking more and more bleak there.

Some of the best peaches and other stone fruit I've had was growing in southern New Jersey. I think you throw seeds on the ground and they grow there. There's a reason they call it the garden state, and it has nothing to do with the northern part. I didn't necessarily like living there, probably why I didn't stay long, but it was a great place to garden.
The mountains of Virginia are known for apples, but there is a lot that can grow here. Check out EdibleLandscaping.com for some of the things growing in the rolling hills of Virginia.

Come to the Gulf coast region of Texas. I have lemons, oranges, loquat, peaches, and figs. Friends have papaya, bananas, and avocados. No state taxes, and good cost of living...and plenty of water! I grew up in OC, Ca. Left 23 years ago.

Drew, you may be reading things in the news that lead you to these conclusions but they are wrong. Water price varies by county. Here in Santa Clara it is very cheap, in Santa Cruz county (one over) it is 3x higher. Even with the price rises in Santa Clara recently I pay 50$ a month for my entire household, all trees, vegetable garden, showers, dishwasher, cloth diapers for babies being washed daily. The Governors executive order has ZERO restrictions for farmers, who use 85% of the states water. They only have to monitor usage and come up with a plan to reduce.

" I doubt you could start a backyard orchard there now, it would cost a lot in water bills, if even allowed."

Come on man, the governor banned watering grass in the parking strip. I'm surrounded by green lawns unfortunately. Setting up an orchard on drip would save water over a lawn, why would the state ban that but not lawns?

50 bucks a month is outrageous! We pay no where near that. No, I'm listening
to farm reports out of CA, where I get my info. On KSTE, Sacramento.

depending on what you want to grow.....

the area surrounding kelowna/kamloops BC canada
Niagra region canada
Washington state/oregon
Lebanon (yes lebanon)
Egypt
Many areas in china
GOld coast australia

Lol, if you knew the cost of living in the Bay Area you would see these are quite insignificant prices to homeowners.

I ran across this article from MSU Quote "Recent statistics show that Michigan ranks second, only to California, in agricultural diversity."
So it you're not happy here, seems like CA is your only other option for diversity. Well in a way, I think other places would be better for citrus and deciduous obviously.


http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/michigan_leads_the_nation_in_the_production_of_blueberries_and_tart_cherrie

Except MSU is full of themselves - I typically take everything they say with a grain of salt. Even if they are right - the summers... are short... rainy or super hot with a couple of amazing days! It's probably going to snow tonight... yay!!!

I'm actually now thinking somewhere in Sarasota/Bradenton area would be great!!

But I guess I need some advice - I'm terrible at measurements. I know this is early to ask - but since I'm here I might as well. How much space - square feet/acres does one typically need to grow all kinds of fruit trees? Yes this is a VERY vague question and it really varies - but just knowing what you guys think/work with will give me a general idea/starting point

Thank!!

Yeah what does one of the countries leading agricultural universities know anyway!

Good luck.

Once you're addicted to planting fruiting trees and plants, no amount of land seems like enough. The easiest way to come up with that answer is to figure out how many fruiting trees you want (and are able to care for) and their spacing requirements. You could have plants that have as little as a 2' or 4' spacing, or as much as 30', for something like pecan trees.

we grow apples peaches cherries plums nuts , blue and black berries ,grapes strawberries
here in the Willamette valley or western Oregon

I'd love to know how MSU defined agricultural diversity. The article claims that MI ranks first in the production of 18 agricultural commodities, but then goes on to mention only cherries and blueberries. I wonder if the 18 are nothing but different varieties and uses of these two crops?

In any event, if you look at agriculture receipts by state, MI ranks pretty low, #22 in fact, so right about in the middle (My high and dry state of NM is not that far off, at #31). Michigan's position is behind the majority of western, midwestern and plains states (Southern and Northern), as well as a couple rocky mtn states (CO and ID), and several eastern states (PA, GA, NC, FL). I suppose all those blueberries and cherries don't make up for the grain, potatoes, vegetables, etc… grown in those other places.

Bottom line though: the warmer the climate (and the closer to Mexico -- the link between North and Central/South America) the greater the plant diversity (both natural and cultural). This is why plant diversity ranks so much higher here in the SW than in the NE for example, even though much of the SW is desert.

The other crops are pretty boring like number one in beets, we have a sugar industry here.
6th in peaches I guess my point any place you live is what you make it. I have an orange tree, a black peppercorn plant, cacti, and fig trees. I can grow anything I want. I have a limited season, but the plants don't know that. Peppers and tomatoes are tropical plants yet grown everywhere. Both originating from South America. I hate our winters, but we don't have poisonous spiders or snakes, no hurricanes, or earthquakes, just an occasional tornado. Cost of living is really decent here too. I own waterfront property but am middle class, hard to do in CA or FL. Everyplace has it good points and bad, it is what you make of it. I have often thought of moving but many of the things mentioned changed my mind.
I'm excited this week I have all kinds of new plants coming. Spring is at last here, and after the hard winter, the roses never smelled sweeter! I have Nadia the cherry-plum hybrid tree coming. It's like a huge cherry! Developed in Australia. You couldn't grow that in FL, not enough chill hours. Two elderberries new cultivars from the Netherlands that are pruned like raspberries, making management and harvest rather simple. Two new currants, a pink, and a red one. Again cannot be grown in CA or FL due to these cultivars not taking the heat. I picked up three more blackberry plants, and a tropical fruit tree, that produces the sherbert berry. I will have to overwinter inside. This cultivar is from India. I added two plum trees Satsuma, and a weeping Santa Rosa plum. Both are very good Japanese plums.
My raspberry crop is going to be huge this year, as is my strawberry and blackberry crops. I have garlic, and onions planted out already and have 15 tomatoes, and 15 pepper plants ready to be planted out. My Spice Zee nectaplum has swollen blossoms, about ready to bloom, As does my pluot tree, and Indian Free and pf-Lucky 13 peach trees. Also my Arctic Glo nectarine is loaded with fruit buds. The blueberries are going to produce a large crop, as our my currants too. Getting ready to plant beans, cucumbers, melons and watermelons. I'm growing orange, yellow and red watermelons this year. Have a good spring everybody!

Where did you end up?