Fruit Trees for Arcadia, Whitehall, Galesville and the Trempealeau Valley, Wisconsin

On February 3, 1996, NOAA's station at Blair read −45°F. In the same cold snap the Winona station, about 26 miles southwest on the Mississippi, read −31°F. That 14°F spread, between two towns on this one map, is the first thing to know about growing fruit trees for Arcadia, Whitehall, Galesville and the Trempealeau Valley. The map covers Trempealeau County in Wisconsin's Driftless Area (the Coulee Region), from Blair, Whitehall and Pigeon Falls down through Independence, Arcadia and Ettrick to Galesville, Dodge and the Mississippi terrace, plus Glencoe and Gilmanton to the west and Winona and Goodview across the 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 (NOAA station records since the 1995-96 winter), nudged a little for the ground right around you. It's a safe number to plan on, not the record and not a promise of how often it comes. 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 map is built on. The spring layer shows how much warmer or colder a spot runs than Arcadia on a still, clear night at bloom.

Arcadia, our reference town, plans for −36°F, MFTC zone 3a, with a typical winter of −21°F. The middle of the map's growing ground plans for −34°F, and half of it lands between −36°F and −33°F. The warm end, −31°F to −33°F, is the Mississippi side (Goodview, Winona, Bluff Siding, Marshland and West Prairie) and the high ground at Glencoe. The cold end is the top of the valley: Whitehall and Pigeon Falls at −40°F and Blair at −43°F, MFTC zone 2b.

Why the map looks the way it does

This is Driftless country. The last ice sheets never got here, so you get loess-capped ridges, steep wooded slopes and farmed valley bottoms. The Trempealeau River runs west past Blair and Whitehall to Independence, then southwest past Arcadia and through Dodge to the Mississippi at Perrot State Park, with Elk Creek and Pigeon Creek coming in from the north. The 1927 USDA soil survey put the Trempealeau Valley at 3/4 to 1 mile wide and the Mississippi's at about 5 miles, with 100 to 500 feet of relief in the central and southern county. On a clear, calm night the ridges lose their heat to the sky, the chilled air slides down the coulees, and it pools on the valley floors while the ridgetops sit in warmer air. The same survey said it in one line: frost comes sooner in the low, narrow valleys than on the higher ridges.

So the map gets colder the farther up the Trempealeau you go. NOAA station records show Blair, in the narrow upper valley at 855 feet, running a median 7°F colder at the year's low than the Lock and Dam 5A station on the Mississippi at 663 feet, 26 miles away, with its last spring frost a median four weeks later (May 20 against April 22). Blair is farther north and higher, in a valley a mile wide at most. The Mississippi valley has a big river down the middle, and in the fall it helps: the Weather Service office at La Crosse says valley fog forms over the warm river first. River fog can delay a freeze. The Mississippi stations' median first 32°F falls on October 12 to 21, against September 29 at Blair.

Low isn't automatically warm, though. NOAA's Dodge station, on the lower Trempealeau bottoms at 685 feet, sits only 22 feet above the Dam 5A station and 7 miles from it, yet runs a median 4°F colder at the year's low. On January 18, 1967, Dodge read −43°F and the Winona station −28°F. Dodge is at the head of the county's biggest poorly drained bottom, which runs from south of town to the Mississippi, and side-valley bottoms like it often run colder than the main floor. Marsh and wet meadow run cold because they're low, tall grass insulates the surface, and peat soils are frost-prone. Even the Mississippi bottoms pool hard: on January 30, 1951, the Lock and Dam 6 station read −44°F, 12°F colder than the Winona station.

Climb off the floor and it changes fast. Within 3 miles of nearly every town here, the benches 100 to 700 feet up run 3°F to 5°F warmer than the floor. That's the thermal belt, the band of slope that stays milder on still nights; a Hungarian study of 69 clear, calm nights found a valley floor averaging 6.7°F colder than a slope 230 feet higher. Towns hold a little heat too, and the map gives built-up ground up to 2.5°F. NOAA's Winona station runs warm as well: on the big nights of 1994, 1996 and 2009 it read 2°F to 7°F warmer than the Dam 5A station on the river. Don't count on Lake Henry, Bugle Lake or Lake Marinuka; lakes only shelter their shores while they're free of ice. And on windy nights higher ground is colder, and UW-Madison Extension says to skip windy hilltops as well as valley-bottom frost pockets.

The spring layer follows the same drainage, only sharper, since spring frost pools usually top out 30 to 200 feet above the ground. It reads the lay of the land around you, so the upper valley's regional chill shows in the frost dates instead: Blair reads even with Arcadia on the layer but frosts four weeks after Winona.

Arcadia, Dewey Corners, North Creek and Glencoe

Arcadia was founded on a hill above the Trempealeau Valley and lies along the river. The town point sits on the river bottom at 727 feet: −36°F, MFTC zone 3a, typical winter −21°F. Within 3 miles the floor runs −36°F and the benches −32°F. Turton Creek and Myers Valley Creek come in here, and the city's 2015 plan says flood-prone ground, high groundwater and wetlands limit building, downtown included. Those creek corridors are Arcadia's cold, wet end; the hill and the uplands beside town are the orchard ground.

Dewey Corners, 1.4 miles east and 40 feet off the floor, plans for −35°F and reads 3°F warmer than Arcadia at bloom. North Creek, 3.7 miles east on a 13 percent hillside 70 feet above its floor, plans for −35°F and reads 7°F warmer, because the cold keeps sliding past it. Tamarack, 6 miles southeast on the valley floor, plans for −36°F but reads 3°F colder. West of the river, Glencoe sits up in the thermal belt at 1,276 feet, 420 feet above its floor: −32°F, MFTC 3b, typical winter −17°F, and 14°F warmer than Arcadia at bloom, the best spring reading of any named place on the map. The limestone ridges south of Arcadia carry Dubuque silt loam, shallow over the rock, so test drainage before you plant up there.

In town, Haralson, Honeycrisp and Frostbite apples (−45°F), Zestar!® and Cortland (−40°F), Toka plum and Evan's Bali tart cherry all have room. Lapins and Gold sweet cherries and Superior plum (−35°F) are worth a try in town and at Dewey Corners, and fit North Creek and Glencoe.

Independence, Whitehall and Elk Creek

Independence sits where Elk Creek meets the Trempealeau, just below Bugle Lake's 1935 WPA dam. The village point, 10 feet above its floor, plans for −38°F, MFTC zone 3a, typical winter −22°F, even with Arcadia at bloom; the floor around it runs −38°F and the benches −34°F. Elk Creek, 4.9 miles north up its broad valley, plans for −37°F, and out west Gilmanton and Lookout both plan for −38°F.

Whitehall, the county seat, sits 5.2 miles east of Independence at 818 feet, 10 feet above the floor: −40°F, MFTC zone 2b, right on the line with 3a, with a typical winter of −25°F. Within 3 miles the floor runs −40°F and the benches −36°F. Coral City, 2.1 miles northeast, plans for −39°F. The upland south of town is Clinton silt loam, which the 1927 survey rated with Boone silt loam as the county's best upland soil for apples.

On the Whitehall floor, stick with trees that have come through −45°F or colder: Haralson, Frostbite, Spartan and Wolf River apples, Toka, Evan's Bali, Westcot apricot, and the Kerr and Centennial applecrabs (−50°F). Ed Schultz, at Gallatin Gateway, Montana, saw zero winter injury on Centennial after a winter that hit −47°F. The −40°F trees (Zestar!®, Cortland, Ure pear, Mount Royal plum) belong on the Whitehall benches, and they fit the Independence floor.

Blair, Pigeon Falls and the top of the valley

Blair is where the cold collects. The Trempealeau is dammed into Lake Henry by town, and the village point sits on the river bottom at 853 feet: −43°F, MFTC zone 2b, typical winter −27°F. The floor within 3 miles runs −43°F and the benches −39°F. NOAA's Blair station, with 80 years on file, holds the area's record (−49°F in 1912) and read −45°F in both 1936 and 1996. It also gets just 135 frost-free days (last 32°F May 20, first September 29), right at the line the University of Vermont uses for short-season country, so leave the late apples to the Mississippi side.

Pigeon Falls, 9.2 miles north at a falls on Pigeon Creek, plans for −40°F, MFTC zone 3a, right on the line with 2b, with a typical winter of −25°F and a bloom-night reading 1°F colder than Arcadia. Its floor runs −40°F but its benches −35°F, the biggest floor-to-bench step of any town on this map, so find the slope.

On these floors, plant from the −50°F list: Norda, Mantet, Parkland and Wealthy apples, Kerr, Centennial and Chestnut applecrabs, Trailman and Rescue (−60°F), Bolshaya pear, Northern Blue and Brookgold plums, Debbie's Gold apricot, Honeyberry and Montana Black Currant. If you only plant one tree out here, make it a Kerr or a Trailman. The −45°F trees suit the benches and the Pigeon Falls floor, but Blair's station has hit −45°F twice, so keep them up off Blair's bottom.

Ettrick, French Creek and Chapultepee

Ettrick shows what a couple of miles and a couple hundred feet can do. The village point sits on the valley floor at 767 feet: −38°F, MFTC zone 3a, typical winter −23°F, even with Arcadia at bloom, with benches at −34°F. Upper French Creek, 4.3 miles northwest on the floor, plans for −38°F and reads 5°F colder than Arcadia at bloom, the coldest spring reading of any named place on the map. Iduna, 3 miles northwest on a toe slope, plans for −37°F and reads 4°F colder. Beachs Corners, 2.7 miles northeast, plans for −39°F.

Then there's Chapultepee, 3.8 miles north on a 7.6 percent hillside at 1,057 feet, 220 feet above its floor: −35°F, typical winter −19°F, and 13°F warmer than Arcadia at bloom. It's 2.2 miles from Upper French Creek, and on the spring layer the two sit 18°F apart. Utah State University says ground 50 to 100 feet above the valley floor is less freeze prone; Chapultepee is more than twice that.

Put the early bloomers on ground like that: Westcot and Morden 604 apricots (−45°F), Pipestone and Underwood plums (−40°F) with Toka to pollenize them, and Lapins and Gold, worth a try right at their −35°F limit. On the French Creek and Iduna floors, plant what can afford to lose some bloom: apples, Red Lake currant and Honeyberry.

Galesville, Lake Marinuka and the Beaver Creek slopes

Galesville is orchard country, and the map shows why. The village sits on Beaver Creek, dammed into Lake Marinuka on the north side of town, with the Square where Highways 35, 54 and 93 meet. The village point is 50 feet above its floor at 739 feet: −34°F, MFTC zone 3b, typical winter −18°F, 5°F warmer than Arcadia at bloom. The floor within 3 miles runs −35°F and the benches −31°F, with fertile Bates silt loam in patches along the valley edges. Butman Corners, 2.8 miles east and 80 feet up, plans for −34°F and reads 3°F warmer than Arcadia at bloom.

On the benches the −35°F trees have room: Lapins, Gold, Superior, Bartlett and Seckel pears, Empire apple, and Siberian C peach, the hardiest peach we think there is. It ripens very late, so it wants the south end of the county, where the 1927 survey said the season runs about like southern Wisconsin's. Liberty apple, scab-resistant and on UW-Madison Extension's southern Wisconsin list, is worth a try at −30°F, as are Stanley plum and Montmorency tart cherry.

Centerville, West Prairie and the Mississippi terrace

At Trempealeau the bluffs break open into a prairie along the Mississippi's old bed. Centerville sits on that terrace at 735 feet, where Highways 35, 93 and 54 meet on the Great River Road: −34°F, MFTC zone 3b, typical winter −18°F, even with Arcadia at bloom. West Prairie, 3.2 miles west and 70 feet above its floor, plans for −32°F. The terrace is Sparta fine sand, droughty and excessively drained, so run drip, and keep the ground mowed short in spring so it can give back its heat on a frost night.

Below the terrace the river bottoms are another climate. NOAA's Lock and Dam 6 station near Trempealeau, at 660 feet, has seen −44°F (1951), −41°F (1996) and −36°F (2019), so down along the backwaters, plant for those numbers. It gets a median 167 frost-free days, with the last 32°F on April 25, so the terrace is the place to try Siberian C and the later apples. South toward La Crosse, our La Crosse and the Driftless map takes over.

Dodge, Pine Creek and the lower Trempealeau bottoms

Dodge is the cold surprise at the south end. The village point sits flat on the river bottom at 669 feet: −37°F, MFTC zone 3a, typical winter −22°F, 2°F colder than Arcadia at bloom. The floor within 3 miles runs −37°F and the benches −32°F. Over its 1960 to 2013 record, NOAA's Dodge station averaged −28°F for the year's low, the same as Blair. Below Dodge the river splits into marshes and sloughs near its mouth, where the Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge holds backwaters and bottomland forest.

Pine Creek, 1.3 miles east and 90 feet above the floor, plans for −35°F and reads 1°F warmer than Arcadia at bloom; in 1927 its farmers grew potatoes for the Winona market. Marshland, 4.1 miles south on a 12 percent toe slope, plans for −31°F. So around Dodge, plant the bottom like Independence and the slopes like Galesville.

Winona, Goodview and Bluff Siding

Across the river, Winona, Minnesota sits on the Mississippi floor at 665 feet, 20 feet above the lowest ground: −32°F, MFTC zone 3b, typical winter −17°F, 2°F warmer than Arcadia at bloom, with the floor around it at −34°F and the benches at −31°F. Goodview, 2.9 miles west, is the warmest town on the map at −31°F, its built-up ground warmer than its own floor (−34°F). On the Wisconsin bank, Bluff Siding sits on a toe slope 40 feet above the floor: −33°F, 3°F warmer than Arcadia at bloom.

This is the long-season end. NOAA's Winona station has a median last 32°F of April 21 and 176 frost-free days, and the Dam 5A station doesn't see its first 28°F until October 31. Here the −35°F trees are good picks and the −30°F ones are worth a try: Liberty, Stanley, Montmorency, Harrow Sweet pear and Contender peach, which Tom McCamant grows at Forbidden Fruit in Paradise, Montana (the only commercial peach we know of that has taken −32°F). Elmaro Vineyard, between Trempealeau and Winona, grows Marquette, La Crescent, Somerset Seedless and Bluebell grapes, all of which we sell. For the Minnesota bluff country, see our Rochester, Winona and the bluff country map.

Spring frost and bloom in the Trempealeau Valley

Open blossoms of apple, pear, cherry, peach, apricot and plum all start dying at about 28°F. NOAA's 1991 to 2020 frost dates split this map in two. On the Mississippi, the Dam 5A station's median last 32°F is April 22 and its last 28°F April 11, with May 5 in a late year (1 spring in 10). Blair runs May 20 and May 6, with June 1 in a late year. The 1927 soil survey recorded frost in the county as late as June 12.

On the spring layer the warmest readings are high ground and slopes with a way out for the cold: Glencoe 14°F warmer than Arcadia, Chapultepee 13°F, North Creek 7°F. Galesville reads 5°F warmer. The cold ones sit right down at floor level: Upper French Creek 5°F colder, Iduna 4°F, Tamarack 3°F, Dodge 2°F. A spread of 3°F to 4°F can separate no crop from a full one. On May 13 and 14, 2016, freezing nights hit 10 western and central Wisconsin counties, Trempealeau among them, and apples, strawberries and other crops lost 30 percent or more.

Put apricots, plums, peaches and sweet cherries on slopes that read 4°F or more warmer than Arcadia, and give the bottoms to apples and bush fruit. Only about 15 percent of apple blossoms need to set for a crop, and most fruit can lose half its bloom with little effect (clustered fruit like cherries and grapes less so). Honeyberry's open flowers take 19°F, and UW-Madison Extension names Gold sweet cherry as a late bloomer that cuts the risk. Through bloom, mow under 2 inches, don't till, and water a day or two before a frost night. Fall comes early to the floors too (Blair's first 28°F is September 30, the Dam 5A station's October 31), so taper water from mid-August.

What the weather records say

• Blair (855 feet, 1906 to 2008): −49°F on January 7, 1912; average yearly low −28°F.
• Lock and Dam 6, Trempealeau (660 feet): −44°F on January 30, 1951; average yearly low −21°F.
• Dodge (685 feet, 1960 to 2013): −43°F on January 18, 1967; average yearly low −28°F.
• Dam 5A, Winona (663 feet): −38°F on February 3, 1996; average yearly low −18°F.
• Winona (652 feet, 1893 to 2008): −35°F on January 12, 1912; average yearly low −21°F.

The big outbreaks line up the same way, upper valley and wet bottoms cold, Winona mild. January 30, 1951: Mondovi −45°F, Lock and Dam 6 −44°F, Blair −43°F, Winona −32°F. February 3, 1996: Blair −45°F, Lock and Dam 6 −41°F, Dam 5A −38°F, Winona −31°F.

USDA's map is built on the average winter's coldest night, and one source puts most of the Driftless in its zone 5a, with patches of 4a. By typical winter, Galesville (−18°F) and Winona (−17°F) fall in USDA's 5a range, Arcadia (−21°F) in 4b and Blair (−27°F) in 4a. Our zones run a full zone or more colder, because NOAA station records show the worst night in about 30 winters runs a median 13°F below a station's average winter low.

What you can grow here

The Mississippi side, the Galesville benches and the high ground, −30°F to −34°F

Apples: Honeycrisp, Haralson, Wealthy, Empire and Paula Red. Pears: Bartlett, Seckel and Summercrisp. Plums: Superior, Mount Royal and Underwood, with Toka or Kaga as the pollenizer (see our pollination maps). Cherries: Lapins and Gold, the hardiest sweet cherries we've found, and Evan's Bali and Meteor tart. Westcot apricot and Siberian C peach on the slopes; Marquette and Frontenac grapes. Worth a try, best at −32°F or warmer: Liberty, Contender, Stanley, Montmorency, Harrow Sweet and Ubileen pear (−30°F).

The middle valley, its towns and slopes, −35°F to −38°F

Apples: Haralson, Frostbite, Honeycrisp and Spartan (−45°F), Zestar!® and Cortland (−40°F). Pears: Ure, Luscious and Cold Snap®. Plums: Toka, Alderman, Mount Royal, Pipestone and Underwood. Tart cherries: Evan's Bali, FE and Meteor. Apricots: Westcot and Morden 604, high on a slope. Bush fruit: Red Lake currant, Pixwell gooseberry, Boyne raspberry and Honeyberry. Worth a try at −35°F to −36°F on a draining slope or a south wall in town: Lapins, Gold, Superior and Siberian C (−35°F).

Blair, Whitehall, Pigeon Falls and the coldest bottoms, −39°F to −43°F

Apples: Haralson, Frostbite and Wolf River (−45°F), Norda, Mantet, Parkland and Wealthy (−50°F). Applecrabs: Kerr, Centennial, Chestnut, Trailman and Rescue. Pears: Bolshaya, Krasnobokaya and Vekovaya. Plums: Northern Blue, Brookgold and Brookred (−50°F), Toka (−45°F). Cherries: Evan's Bali and FE tart, Romeo and Juliet dwarf. Apricot: Debbie's Gold. Bush fruit: Honeyberry, Montana Black Currant, Nanking Cherry, Aronia Berry and Valiant grape (all −50°F). The −40°F trees are worth a try at −39°F to −40°F with snow over the roots; at Blair itself, stay on the −50°F list.

Roots, rootstocks and site

Dormant apple roots are seriously hurt near 10°F while the wood above takes about −40°F, so roots live on the soil and snow over them; after the snowless 2024-25 winter, UW-Madison's fruit program found apple damage just below the graft union. UW warns that M.9 and M.26 are very susceptible to fire blight, and on the coldest bottoms a hardy stock earns its keep: at Ed Schultz's farm, Bud 118 has seen near −50°F under snow with no rootstock damage.

Plant on a gentle slope, off the bottom and off the windswept ridgetop; Montana State University's target is a 4 to 8 percent grade. A hedge or tree line across a slope backs cold air up into the trees above it, so leave a gap at the low end. UW wants good internal drainage, a pH of about 6 to 7, and two cultivars that bloom together within 200 yards. Fuji and Granny Smith need about 180 days from bloom to harvest and won't ripen here. Apple scab is Wisconsin's worst apple disease, so scab-resistant Liberty pays off; fire blight, codling moth, apple maggot and plum curculio come next. Fence for deer, guard trunks against rabbits and rodents, and water by drip.

Fruit history here

In 1927 the USDA soil survey found apples grown for home use over most of Trempealeau County, with a few commercial orchards in the Little Tamarack Creek valley, mostly on the rolling phase of Boone silt loam, slope ground rather than marsh. Strawberries grew in nearly every garden (Honeoye has come through −50°F if you want a patch). Ecker's Apple Farm near Trempealeau has been in the family since 1945 and grows 20 apple cultivars, Ferguson's Orchard farms 58 acres at Galesville, and Galesville's Apple Affair, started in 1983, fills the Square in early October. A UW-La Crosse professor quoted in a 2017 story on Elmaro Vineyard said only cold-hardy grapes handle this climate. North toward Eau Claire, see our Eau Claire and the Chippewa Valley map.

Questions people ask

What growing zone is Arcadia, WI?

Arcadia plans for −36°F, MFTC zone 3a, with a typical winter of −21°F, which falls in USDA's 4b range. USDA's zone is based on an average winter, ours on the bad night we plan for.

What zone is Whitehall, WI?

Whitehall plans for −40°F, MFTC zone 2b, right on the line with 3a, with a typical winter of −25°F. Blair, up the valley, plans for −43°F (2b), and its NOAA station read −45°F in February 1996.

When is the last frost in the Trempealeau Valley?

NOAA station records for 1991 to 2020 put the median last 32°F at May 20 in Blair (June 1 in a late year) and April 22 at the Dam 5A station by Winona, with Lock and Dam 6 near Trempealeau at April 25.

Where are the frost pockets around Arcadia and Ettrick?

Low ground right down on the valley floors. On a still bloom night Upper French Creek reads 5°F colder than Arcadia, Iduna 4°F, Tamarack 3°F and Dodge 2°F. The warm spots are slopes like Chapultepee (13°F warmer) and North Creek (7°F warmer).

Can you grow peaches in western Wisconsin?

Siberian C (−35°F) fits the Mississippi side and the Galesville benches, and Contender (−30°F) is worth a try at Goodview, Winona or Marshland. UW-Madison Extension warns that temperatures below −15°F kill fruit buds, and a typical winter here gets to −15°F or colder, so count on the tree before the crop.

What fruit trees grow in Galesville, WI?

Galesville plans for −34°F, MFTC zone 3b, and its benches −31°F. Honeycrisp, Haralson, Zestar!® and Cortland have plenty of room, Lapins, Gold, Superior and Siberian C (−35°F) fit, and Liberty, Stanley and Montmorency (−30°F) are worth a try on the slopes.

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.