Fruit Trees for Claremont, Newport, Sunapee, New London and Charlestown, New Hampshire

On January 20, 1994, the NOAA station in Newport read −40°F. The Mount Sunapee station, 6 miles away and about 500 feet higher near the foot of the mountain, bottomed out at −8°F in the same cold snap. A 32°F gap over a few miles is the first thing to know about fruit trees for Claremont, Newport, Sunapee, New London and Charlestown: the floor of a valley and the slope above it live in different climates on a still, clear night.

This map covers the middle of the Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee Region: the Sugar River from Sunapee Harbor through Newport to Claremont, the lake and its shore villages, New London, Newbury, Sutton and Bradford over the ridge, the Connecticut River Valley from Cornish down to Bellows Falls, the Sullivan County hill towns, and Springfield and Weathersfield on the Vermont side. 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, plus a small nudge for the ground right around you. It leans cold on purpose, a safe number to plan for rather than a record. The MFTC zone is that number in half zones. The typical winter is an average year's coldest night at your spot, the kind of number USDA's map is built on, so USDA zones read warmer. The spring layer shows how much warmer or colder a spot runs than downtown Claremont on a still, clear night at bloom.

Downtown Claremont plans for −25°F, MFTC zone 4a, with a typical winter of −13°F. The middle of the map's growing ground plans for −22°F, and half of it falls between −24°F and −20°F. The cold end is the low ground: Balloch, on the Connecticut floor in Cornish, at −28°F, and Kelleyville, Croydon Flat, Newport and Bradford at −27°F. The warm end is the hills a few hundred feet above those floors, like Burkehaven Hill by Sunapee Harbor and Page Hill south of Newport at −17°F, and Kings Hill in Sutton at −15°F. At bloom the spread runs from 12°F colder than downtown Claremont at Kelleyville and Goulds Mill to 11°F warmer on Mount Tug and Breakneck Hill.

Why the map looks the way it does

Mount Sunapee's 5-mile ridge splits this country. West of it everything runs to the Connecticut: the Sugar River out of the lake, the Little Sugar out of Unity, the Cold River from Crescent Lake, and the Black River through Springfield, Vermont. East of it, Bradford, Sutton, southern Newbury and the center and east side of New London drain to the Merrimack. On a clear, calm night, air chilled against the hillsides slides downhill the way the water goes and settles where the ground stops falling.

The Sugar is the spine of this airshed. It leaves Lake Sunapee at 1,093 feet and falls about 800 feet in 27 miles to the Connecticut. Newport village is where three valleys meet: the main stem from Guild, the South Branch from Goshen and the North Branch from Croydon. A basin fed from three sides is the classic place for cold to collect, and the station records show it. Newport's station, at 770 feet, has run 9°F colder than the Mount Sunapee station on the year's coldest night, the median over 18 years. In the February 1993 cold snap it read −28°F to Mount Sunapee's −15°F, and in January 2009 −23°F to −5°F.

Above a basin, the slope a few hundred feet up is the thermal belt: cold slides past it on the way down, and warmer air rides above the pool. Mount Tug's slope, about 500 feet above Kelleyville and under a mile away, plans for −22°F to Kelleyville's −27°F, and on a bloom night reads 23°F warmer. Deep arctic air can fill everything, though, and on a wind there's no inversion to climb above. In the January 1968 cold snap Mount Sunapee read −25°F, colder than Bellows Falls at −21°F. The planning low counts both kinds of night; the spring layer is the still, clear kind that kills blossoms.

The Connecticut floor is the lowest ground, about 290 feet where the Sugar comes in, and it gets milder downriver: the floor plans for −28°F at Balloch, −26°F around Claremont, −24°F around Charlestown and −22°F around Bellows Falls. In the January 1957 cold snap the old Bellows Falls station, at 270 feet, read −23°F while Cavendish and Grafton, in Vermont west of the map at about 830 to 840 feet, read −38°F and −37°F. That fits a big valley that keeps draining south, with the hardest cold collecting in side basins up in the hills.

Lake Sunapee doesn't warm its shore the way the Great Lakes do. It ices over in winter, the ice usually holds into April, and a lake only shelters its shore while it's open. We haven't found a local measurement of it warming the shore or holding bloom back, and the map gives it no credit. Snow chills the air above it but keeps roots warm. The Mount Sunapee station averages about 85 inches a winter and Newport about 66 inches, and 4 to 10 inches insulates the soil well.

Claremont, the Sugar River mills and the hills over town

Claremont, the one city in Sullivan County, is built where the Sugar River drops 150 feet through downtown, with the mill buildings of the Lower Village District along the river and the Washington Street business district nearby. Glacial Lake Hitchcock once filled this valley to about 720 feet and left its rich, nearly rockless soils behind; Claremont's own ground is a gravelly loam.

Downtown sits 70 feet above its floor: −25°F, zone 4a, typical winter −13°F. Within 3 miles the floor plans for −26°F, the benches −23°F and the warmest tenth of the growing ground −21°F. West Claremont, on the slope toward the Connecticut, plans for −26°F and reads 3°F warmer at bloom. The hills ringing the city do better: Flatrock Hill, about a mile south of downtown and 550 feet up, plans for −22°F and reads 11°F warmer than downtown at bloom; Fifield Hill −20°F and 11°F warmer; Bible Hill −19°F.

In town, Contender peach (−30°F), Harlayne apricot (−30°F), Rainier cherry (−30°F) and Superior plum (−35°F) clear −25°F with room. Bloom is the catch, so give them the hill ground or a south wall. On the river floor, plant apples like Honeycrisp and Haralson (both −45°F).

Newport, Kelleyville, Guild and Croydon Flat

Newport, the county seat, sits where NH 10 and 11 meet. The South Branch joins the Sugar in the village and the North Branch just north of it. The village plans for −27°F, zone 4a, typical winter −16°F, and reads 4°F colder than downtown Claremont at bloom. Within 3 miles the floor plans for −26°F and the benches −23°F. The Newport station's own 30-year number is −27°F, colder than anything it has recorded since 1995 (−25°F, in the winter of 2002-03).

The river is frostier still. Kelleyville, west of the village toward Claremont, plans for −27°F and reads 12°F colder at bloom, the coldest spring reading of any named place we checked (Goulds Mill in Vermont ties it). Guild, 2 miles upriver, plans for −26°F and reads 9°F colder; Croydon Flat, up the North Branch, −27°F and 10°F colder; Goshen village, at the head of the South Branch, −25°F and 11°F colder. Page Hill, at 1,500 feet between Newport and Goshen, plans for −17°F, zone 5a, and reads 10°F warmer than downtown Claremont.

Newport is known for maple sugar and apple orchards, and the floor is apple ground: winter's no problem there, frost is. Plant Kerr and Centennial applecrabs (both −50°F), honeyberry and Red Lake currant (−40°F) in the village, and Toka plum and Westcot apricot (both −45°F) on the slopes, where a bloom night runs 14°F to 15°F warmer.

Sunapee, Georges Mills and the west shore

Sunapee village sits at Sunapee Harbor, the goose's beak of the lake, where the Sugar River leaves it. At 1,018 feet it's well above Newport's basin and plans for only −21°F, zone 4b, typical winter −11°F, but it sits at the head of the river's channel, and the map reads that as a cold-air drain: 10°F colder than downtown Claremont at bloom. Within 3 miles the floor plans for −24°F and the benches −20°F. Around the shore, Burkehaven plans for −20°F, Granliden −21°F and Fernwood −23°F, and Georges Mills at the north tip is the cold one, −25°F and 6°F colder at bloom.

The hills behind the shore are some of the warmest ground on the map. Burkehaven Hill, 300 feet above its floor and under a mile from the harbor, plans for −17°F, zone 5a, and reads 9°F warmer than downtown Claremont; Baisdell Hill, just south of the village, −17°F and 10°F warmer; Trow Hill to the north −18°F and 11°F warmer. That puts them 19°F to 21°F ahead of the harbor on a bloom night. Up there SnowCzar almond, Stella sweet cherry and Redstar peach (all −25°F) and even Bing (−20°F) clear. Leave the harbor and the landings to apples, haskap and bush fruit, and fence for the deer, moose and bear that live around the lake.

New London, Newbury and the east shore

New London's center sits on a hilltop along NH 114, home to Colby-Sawyer College. At 1,288 feet and 370 feet above its floor it plans for −19°F, zone 5a, typical winter −9°F, and reads 8°F warmer than downtown Claremont at bloom, one of the best town sites on the map. The floor within 3 miles plans for −25°F and the benches −21°F, so the center sits at the warm end of its own ground. Drop off the hill and it turns: Elkins, by the beach on Pleasant Lake 470 feet lower, plans for −25°F, and Lakeside, on Lake Sunapee's northeast shore, −24°F and 10°F colder at bloom. On the hilltop, Blushingstar peach (−30°F), Lapins cherry (−35°F) and pears like Harrow Sweet (−30°F) and Seckel (−35°F) all clear, and bloom reads well.

Newbury village, at the lake's south end where NH 103 and 103A meet, plans for −21°F and reads 8°F colder at bloom, and Blodgett Landing up the east shore −22°F and 9°F colder. Edgemont, on the hillside above the south end, plans for −20°F and reads 2°F warmer, and Baker Hill, east of Blodgett Landing, −19°F and 9°F warmer. South Newbury, over the height of land on a Merrimack-side valley floor at 735 feet, plans for −27°F.

Sutton and Bradford, on the Merrimack side

The Merrimack-side valleys run cold. Sutton village, at the bottom of its valley at 747 feet, plans for −25°F, zone 4b, and reads 10°F colder than downtown Claremont at bloom; within 3 miles the floor plans for −26°F and the benches −21°F. Meetinghouse Hill, a mile east and 560 feet above its floor, plans for −18°F and reads 11°F warmer, and Kings Hill, Sutton's high point, plans for −15°F, the warmest planning low of any named place we checked. Muster Field Farm in North Sutton has been farmed since 1772 and still cuts ice from Kezar Lake every January.

Bradford lies mostly in a valley, with Todd Lake beside the village, which plans for −27°F, zone 4a, typical winter −15°F, and reads 8°F colder at bloom. The Bradford 2 station agrees: its own 30-year number is −27°F against a record of −23°F (January 21, 2022), and it has the shortest frost-free season of any station here. Even Bradford's benches plan for −23°F, so stone fruit needs real height; Rowes Hill, to the south, plans for −18°F and reads 9°F warmer. Farther down the Merrimack side, our Concord, Manchester and Merrimack Valley map takes over.

Charlestown, Bellows Falls and the lower Connecticut

Charlestown strings along NH 12 above the Connecticut, with the Fort at Number 4 by the river. The village sits 70 feet above its floor and plans for −23°F, zone 4b, typical winter −11°F, about even with downtown Claremont at bloom; within 3 miles the floor plans for −24°F and the benches −21°F. The bottoms are frostier: Trapshire, south of the village, reads 5°F colder at bloom, and North Charlestown, where the Little Sugar comes in, plans for −25°F. Up the east side, Breakneck Hill, 0.7 mile from the village and 550 feet up, plans for −20°F and reads 11°F warmer, and Page Hill to the south −19°F and 11°F warmer.

At the south end, Bellows Falls, Vermont, plans for −20°F, zone 4b, typical winter −9°F, even with downtown Claremont at bloom, and North Walpole across the river −21°F and 4°F colder. Fall Mountain and Mount Kilburn above them plan for −16°F and read 10°F to 11°F warmer. Lapins and Rainier cherries, Contender and Siberian C (−35°F) peaches and Toka and Superior plums all clear here, and Sungold apricot (−40°F) belongs on the hills east of Charlestown. For Walpole and points south, see our Keene, Brattleboro and Monadnock map.

Springfield, Weathersfield and the Vermont shore

Springfield, Vermont, at the center of the Precision Valley, is built where the Black River drops about 110 feet in an eighth of a mile through downtown. The village sits right on that drop, and the map reads it as a cold-air drain: −25°F, zone 4a, typical winter −13°F, and 9°F colder than downtown Claremont at bloom. Goulds Mill, toward the Connecticut, reads 12°F colder. The hills around town read 9°F to 11°F warmer, and the slopes of Skitchewaug Mountain, east of Goulds Mill, plan for −20°F. Wellwood Orchards, high on a hill above Springfield and dating to 1920, offers pick-your-own peaches, plums and pears along with its apples. After the cold spring of 2026 its crop was light, though far less hurt than in 2023.

Upriver, Ascutney village sits at the south foot of 3,144-foot Mount Ascutney, on the valley floor, and plans for −27°F, about even with downtown Claremont at bloom. Weathersfield Bow, where William Jarvis brought America's first Merino sheep in 1811, plans for −26°F; Balloch, across the river in Cornish, −28°F, the coldest winter number of any named place we checked. On these floors plant Wolf River (−50°F) and Northern Spy (−30°F) apples and Pixwell gooseberry, and save Tomcot apricot (−30°F) for the hills. North of Balloch, our Hanover, Lebanon and Upper Valley map takes over.

The hill towns: Acworth, Lempster, Unity and Washington

The hill towns south of Newport put their centers up high. Acworth's village, 410 feet above its floor, plans for −19°F, zone 5a, and reads 6°F warmer than downtown Claremont at bloom; Lempster −19°F and 5°F warmer; Unity, on a bench 240 feet up, −20°F; Washington, whose common at 1,507 feet the town calls the highest town center in New Hampshire, −21°F. The brook valleys below them are another story: East Acworth plans for −24°F and reads 8°F colder at bloom, South Acworth on the Cold River −23°F and 8°F colder, East Lempster −24°F, East Washington −25°F. Between each center and its own low ground that's an 8°F to 15°F swing on a bloom night. On the village centers, Glohaven peach and Purvis Hardy English walnut (both −25°F) have room, and so does Bing at Acworth and Lempster; at Washington, Bing is worth a try on a sheltered south side.

Spring frost and bloom around Lake Sunapee and the Sugar River

The freeze of May 17, 2023 shows what this map is for. A warm April had pushed bloom ahead, and the cold came at peak apple bloom. UNH Extension had growers around the state reporting 22°F to 31°F, and apple growers in Sullivan and four other counties expected a total loss; Sullivan County was named a primary USDA disaster county. Higher orchards fared much better and the cold settled in the valleys, the same pattern this map's spring layer draws. Just north of the map, Riverview Farm on the Connecticut in Plainfield lost its entire apple crop.

NOAA station records for 1991 to 2020 show the split. At the Newport station, down in the basin, the median last 32°F frost comes May 18 (as late as June 1 one year in ten) and the first fall frost September 27, a 132-day season. At the Mount Sunapee station, near the foot of the mountain at 1,275 feet, it's April 29 and October 9, a 160-day season. The Bradford 2 station, in its valley, gets 127 days. Claremont has no frost-date station of its own; the nearest are Newport and the Hartness airport station by Springfield, Vermont, just off the map at 568 feet, with a last frost of May 14 and a 143-day season.

Open blossoms of apple, pear, cherry, peach, apricot and plum start dying near 28°F, and stone fruit blooms a week or more ahead of apples, which is why UNH Extension tells people to put it on elevated ground where cold drains away. Here that means hills that read 8°F or more warmer than downtown Claremont. Only about 15 percent of apple blossoms need to set for a crop, and open haskap flowers take 19°F, so those go on the frosty ground. Lake Sunapee's ice has gone out anywhere from March 18 (2016) to May 14 (1888), and an early spring like 2023's doesn't mean less frost; it pulls bloom into weeks that still freeze.

What the weather records say

The coldest reading on file at any station on this map is Newport's −40°F on January 20, 1994; Grafton, Vermont, west of the map, hit −40°F in the same cold snap and Bellows Falls −23°F. February 1943 brought Cavendish −40°F and Bellows Falls −35°F, its record low. Mount Sunapee's record is −26°F, on January 8, 1968. Recent cold snaps have reached −22°F to −23°F, at Newport in 2009 and 2018 and at Bradford in 2022. Our planning low uses winters since 1995-96, so January 1994 isn't in it, and a night like that would go past the planning low on the floors. That's what room to spare is for.

Average yearly lows on record run −18°F at Newport, −15°F at Bradford and Bellows Falls, and −12°F at Mount Sunapee. Downtown Claremont's typical winter, the kind of number USDA's map is built on, is −13°F against a planning low of −25°F, and that gap is why our zones read colder than USDA's.

What you can grow here

Most of what we sell clears winter here: everything rated −30°F or colder clears the planning low at every named place we checked, Balloch's −28°F included. The choice comes down to site and bloom.

Hills and hill-town centers, −20°F or warmer

New London's center, Acworth, Lempster, Unity, Bellows Falls and the hills over the lake and the river towns. Most of the hills read 8°F to 11°F warmer than downtown Claremont at bloom, so the early bloomers go here: Contender, Blushingstar and Redstar peaches, Westcot and Harlayne apricots, Lapins, Rainier, Stella and Bing sweet cherries, and Superior plum with Toka (Toka is a good pollenizer for Superior, and our pollination maps show what else blooms together). Add Italian plum (−35°F), Summercrisp pear (−45°F), Hardired nectarine (−25°F) and the old New England apple, Baldwin (−20°F).

Village terraces and the middle ground, −21°F to −25°F

Claremont, Charlestown, Sunapee village, Newbury, Washington, Springfield and Sutton. Everything rated −25°F or colder clears, but bloom readings run from 3°F warmer than downtown Claremont at Washington to 10°F colder at Sunapee village and Sutton, so check yours. Where it reads even or better: Siberian C peach (−35°F), Black Gold sweet cherry (−35°F), Evans Bali tart cherry (−45°F), Mount Royal plum (−45°F), Flemish Beauty pear (−40°F), and Zestar!® and Cortland apples (both −40°F). Where it reads colder, stick to apples and bush fruit. Bing and Baldwin are worth a try only in a sheltered spot, like a south wall in town.

The cold basins and river bottoms, −26°F to −28°F

Newport, Kelleyville, Guild, Croydon Flat, Bradford, South Newbury, Ascutney, Balloch and Claremont's river floor. Winter's fine for anything rated −30°F or colder, but most of these read 4°F to 12°F colder than downtown Claremont at bloom, so plant for a cold spring: Haralson, Honeycrisp and Frostbite apples (−45°F), Kerr and Chestnut applecrabs (−50°F), honeyberry, Montana Black Currant, Boyne and Nova raspberries, and aronia (all −50°F). Pears and stone fruit go on the nearest slope that reads warmer.

Site, soil, roots and pests

Plant on the slope, off the valley bottom and the windswept top. Montana State University's rule of thumb is a 4 to 8 percent grade, and Bob Purvis likes an east-facing slope that warms fast on a frosty morning. Clear brush or a hedge out of the bottom of a slope so the cold keeps going, and test drainage (dig 2 feet, fill, let drain, refill; under 10 hours is well drained). UNH Extension wants deep, well-drained sandy loams, with a pH of 6.0 to 7.0 for stone fruit. Snow cover protects roots, and roots are the weak link: at Ed Schultz's farm in Gallatin Gateway, Montana, Bud 118 apple rootstock has seen near −50°F with no rootstock damage, under snow. Most of this map is zone 4, so taper water from mid-August and use drip. Watch for scab, fire blight, plum curculio for 2 to 3 weeks after bloom (UNH suggests kaolin clay), brown rot and black knot. UNH's vole guard is 1/4 inch hardware cloth, 18 inches tall and buried an inch; deer take a 6 to 8 foot fence. Paint the south and west sides of young trunks with diluted white latex in late fall.

Questions people ask

What hardiness zone is Claremont, NH?

Downtown Claremont plans for −25°F, MFTC zone 4a, with a typical winter of −13°F, and the hills above town plan for −19°F to −22°F. USDA's zones are built on an average winter's coldest night, so they read warmer; ours is built on the bad night we plan for.

Why is Newport, NH so cold?

Newport village sits where the Sugar River meets its North and South branches, a basin three valleys of cold air drain into. Its station hit −40°F on January 20, 1994, when the Mount Sunapee station read −8°F, and it typically runs 9°F colder than Mount Sunapee on the year's coldest night. The village plans for −27°F, MFTC zone 4a.

When is the last frost around Lake Sunapee and Newport?

NOAA station records for 1991 to 2020 put the median last 32°F frost on April 29 at the Mount Sunapee station, near the foot of the mountain, and May 18 at the Newport station in the Sugar River basin. One year in ten it's as late as May 19 at Mount Sunapee and June 1 at Newport.

Can you grow peaches in Claremont or New London?

Yes, on the right ground. Contender and Blushingstar (both −30°F) and Siberian C (−35°F) clear the planning low at every named place we checked, and Redstar and Glohaven (−25°F) clear New London's −19°F. Plant them where the spring layer reads warm: New London's center reads 8°F warmer than downtown Claremont, the hills around Claremont 11°F warmer.

Where are the frost pockets around Newport and Sunapee?

On a still bloom night the coldest readings of any named places we checked are Kelleyville, west of Newport, and Goulds Mill in Springfield, Vermont, both 12°F colder than downtown Claremont, and Goshen (11°F colder), Croydon Flat, Sunapee village and Lakeside (10°F colder) are close behind. Hills a few hundred feet above them read 8°F to 11°F warmer.

Did the May 2023 freeze hit Sullivan County?

Hard. After a warm April pushed bloom early, a freeze on the night of May 17 hit at peak apple bloom. UNH Extension reported Sullivan County apple growers expecting a total loss, and the county was named a primary USDA disaster county. Higher orchards fared much better.

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.