Zone 2 Fruit Trees & Berries
Zone 2 winters drop to -50°F. That still rules out most of what gets sold as cold hardy, but it leaves a real orchard: apples, pears, plums, apricots, bush cherries, berries and even a grape, all rated hardy through the whole zone.
More about growing fruit in zone 2
We rate every variety by the coldest night it has actually come through, at our two Montana sites in Missoula and Florence or with trusted growers farther north, not by a catalog average. A bare zone number means the whole zone, colder half included. A b, like 2b, means the warmer half only.
Start with fruit that doesn't care how cold it gets. Honeyberries, sea buckthorn, serviceberry, Nanking cherry and the Juliet and Romeo dwarf cherries are all zone 2 plants, and most of them fruit within a few years. For tree fruit, Norda and Prairie Sensation apples, Larinskaya and Krazulya pears, Manchurian apricot seedlings and Native American plum have all earned their place. Valiant is the hardiest grape we know of.
In the warmer half of the zone (2b, -45°F to -40°F) you can add Honeycrisp, Haralson and Frostbite apples and Westcot apricot. We rate those to 2b, so they're for 2b sites, not the cold half. Not sure which half you're in? Our cold hardiness calculator will tell you.
Other zones: Zone 1 · Zone 3. Find your zone with our cold hardiness calculator.
Questions about zone 2
What does zone 2 mean?
Zone 2 is an average coldest winter night of -50°F to -40°F. Zone 2a runs -50°F to -45°F and zone 2b runs -45°F to -40°F.
Can I grow apples in zone 2?
Yes. Norda and Prairie Sensation are rated hardy through all of zone 2. Honeycrisp, Haralson and Frostbite are rated to 2b, the warmer half.
What fruits first in zone 2?
Honeyberries and strawberries usually give you fruit soonest, often in the second or third year. Bush cherries and serviceberry aren't far behind.
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