Fruit Trees for Fort Dodge, Webster City and the Des Moines River, Iowa

On February 15, 1930, NOAA's Webster City station read −34°F. In the same cold snap, the Fort Dodge 5NNW station, up on the prairie north of Fort Dodge and 43 feet higher, bottomed at −22°F. That's 12°F between two stations in what looks like the same flat farm country, and it's the place to start with fruit trees for Fort Dodge, Webster City and the Des Moines River. This land is flat until it drops into a river valley, and on a still, clear night cold air drains downhill and settles in the low ground.

The map covers a stretch of north central Iowa: Fort Dodge, Coalville, Otho and Lehigh along the Des Moines; Webster City, Eagle Grove and Woolstock on the Boone; and the prairie towns from Clare and Badger to Callender, Duncombe and Thor. 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's a safe number to plan around, 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, and the spring layer shows how much warmer or colder a spot runs than Fort Dodge on a still, clear night at bloom.

Fort Dodge, the reference town, plans for −29°F, MFTC zone 4a, with a typical winter of −17°F. The middle of the growing ground plans for −28°F, and nine tenths of it falls between −30°F and −26°F. The warm end, −25°F to −27°F, is the high prairie and the bench ground: Highview west of Webster City, Clare, Badger, Vincent, and Coalville above the Des Moines. The cold end is the river ground: Webster City at −31°F, MFTC zone 3b, and Lehigh, Kalo and Shady Oak in the Des Moines valley at −30°F.

Why the map looks the way it does

All of this sits on the Des Moines Lobe, glacial ice that pushed into Iowa about 15,000 years ago and left one of the youngest, flattest landscapes in the state: gently rolling till, low moraines and few streams. The streams that are here cut deep. Near Lehigh the Des Moines valley deepened by close to 190 feet, and the Boone cuts a wooded valley from Webster City south to the Des Moines at Stratford, just past the map's edge. The prairie sits at roughly 1,100 to 1,215 feet; the Des Moines bottom at Lehigh and Kalo is down around 955 to 970 feet. Nearly all the relief is in those valleys, and so is the deepest winter cold.

On a clear, calm night the ground radiates its heat to the sky, the air touching it chills, and that heavier air slides downhill. At the valley edge it pours in through the side valleys and canyons (Lizard Creek and Soldier Creek at Fort Dodge, Woodman Hollow, Prairie Creek and Boneyard Hollow at Dolliver, Brushy Creek) and pools on the floor. Lehigh, right on the floor at 955 feet, plans for −30°F, and so do Kalo, down in the valley at 967 feet, and Shady Oak, in a steep draw southeast of Fort Dodge. Brushy, up on the prairie a few miles away, plans for −28°F, and Burnside −29°F.

The valley sides are the thermal belt. Coalville sits on the east bank, 100 feet above the floor, and plans for −27°F; Kalo, about a mile south and 150 feet lower, plans for −30°F. At bloom Coalville reads 2°F colder than Fort Dodge and Kalo 12°F colder, the coldest spring reading of any named place on the map. Spring frost pools usually top out 30 to 200 feet up (that's from the FAO's frost protection manual), so ground partway up the valley side can sit above them. The river terraces are capped with coarse sand and gravel, so they shed water as well as cold air.

The Boone valley at Webster City is the cold corner. NOAA's Webster City station also read −31°F around February 9, 1972, when Fort Dodge 5NNW bottomed at −20°F. Its median last spring frost comes a week later than Fort Dodge 5NNW's and its first fall frost 9 days earlier, and the Webster City airport weather station, 37 feet higher, averages −16°F for the year's coldest night since 1995 against −20°F at the long-record station. We haven't found a published explanation, but it all fits cold air settling toward the Boone. In the January 1974 and February 1979 outbreaks, though, Webster City and Fort Dodge 5NNW both bottomed at −27°F, which fits arctic air coming in on a wind, when low ground gets no extra cold.

The open prairie reads warm in winter. Highview, 100 feet above Webster City, plans for −25°F, and Clare, the highest town on the map, −26°F, with the deepest winter cold settling in the valleys below. It isn't immune, though: NOAA's Clarion station, just past the map's edge, read −32°F on January 21, 1970, and Webster City −29°F in the same cold snap. And at bloom the flat prairie reads 5°F to 10°F colder than Fort Dodge almost everywhere. Most of a cold pool's chill is made in place, and on flat ground it has nowhere to go. Grass and fresh tillage chill the surface further, and any closed low spot in this old wet prairie fills with cold air up to its lowest notch before it spills.

Towns and water count for less. Built-up ground gets up to 2.5°F on the map, which helps central Fort Dodge. Brushy Creek Lake is 77.5 feet deep at its deepest, and Iowa DNR says it warms and cools slowly, but we haven't found ice records or any study of its shore, and a lake only shelters its shore while it's relatively free of ice (the Wisconsin State Climatology Office's words). The coldest mornings come over fresh snow, which also protects roots, and open, plowed prairie loses its snow to the wind. On a windy or cloudy night the whole pattern flattens out.

Fort Dodge, Lizard Creek and Soldier Creek

The fort that started Fort Dodge went up in 1850 on high ground where Lizard Creek comes into the Des Moines, on a hill sloping to the river, and that's still the right instinct for fruit trees. The Des Moines runs through town in a valley deep enough to need the High Bridge. Lizard Creek comes in from the west, and Soldier Creek runs through Snell-Crawford Park on the north side; each of those bottoms is a path for cold air off the prairie.

Central Fort Dodge, at 1,089 feet and 70 feet above the valley floor, plans for −29°F, MFTC zone 4a, with a typical winter of −17°F. Within 3 miles the floor plans for −29°F and the bench ground −28°F, and the growing ground runs from −27°F in the warmest tenth to −30°F in the coldest. Downtown ("Little Chicago") gets the most town heat. In Oak Hill, West Fort Dodge (the old Riverside and Swedetown) or out by Kennedy Park, what counts is where your lot sits: up on the valley side, or down by the river or a creek. If your yard drops toward Soldier Creek, Lizard Creek or the Des Moines, put the tender trees at the top and the currants and haskap at the bottom.

Every other named place reads colder at bloom, so Fort Dodge is the place for early bloomers. It clears Lapins and Gold sweet cherries (−35°F, the hardiest sweet cherries we've found), Siberian C peach, and Superior plum with Toka as its pollenizer. Contender peach (−30°F) fits too; Tom McCamant grows it at Forbidden Fruit Orchard in Paradise, Montana, and it's the only commercial peach we know of that has taken −32°F. Put Westcot and Sungold apricots on the highest part of the lot. Blushingstar peach (−25°F) is worth a try against a south wall downtown; it came through −25°F at our place on January 13, 2024 without damage.

Coalville, Otho and Kalo

Below Fort Dodge the Des Moines runs between bluffs, and Woodman Hollow, 3 miles east of Otho, has ravine walls over 100 feet high.

Coalville, one of Iowa's northernmost old coal towns, sits on the east bank on US 20, on a bench 100 feet above the floor. It plans for −27°F, MFTC zone 4a, with a typical winter of −15°F, and reads only 2°F colder than Fort Dodge at bloom, the best spring reading of any named place outside the city. Within 3 miles the ground runs from −27°F to −30°F. This is the spot for Debbie's Gold and Westcot apricots, Contender and Veteran peaches (both −30°F), Stella cherry (−30°F) and Lapins, with Blushingstar worth a try.

Kalo, down in the valley at 967 feet, plans for −30°F with a typical winter of −18°F. Kalo Junction, just north, reads 10°F colder than Fort Dodge at bloom, and Shady Oak 8°F colder. Otho, 60 feet above its floor, plans for −29°F, zone 4a, with a typical winter of −17°F, and reads 7°F colder at bloom; the bench ground around it plans for −27°F. Roberts plans for −28°F, Evanston −29°F, and Judd, east toward Duncombe, −26°F. In the bottoms, plant apples, applecrabs, haskap and currants, and leave the apricots to Coalville.

Dolliver, Lehigh and Brushy Creek

At Dolliver Memorial State Park, 10 miles south of Fort Dodge, Prairie Creek and Boneyard Hollow cut canyons through a 100-foot sandstone bluff, the kind of path calm-night cold takes off the prairie. A high terrace near the park's north entrance is mapped as Wadena soil, 20 to 40 inches of loam over coarse sand and gravel, ground that drains well.

Lehigh sits in the valley, with the Des Moines splitting it in two: Lehigh on the west bank and the old Slabtown on the east. The town point, at 955 feet right on the floor, plans for −30°F, MFTC zone 3b, with a typical winter of −19°F, and reads 12°F colder than Fort Dodge at bloom. Within 3 miles the floor plans for −29°F and the bench ground −28°F. Border Plains, on a slope 70 feet above its floor north of town, plans for −29°F and reads 7°F colder than Fort Dodge in spring; Burnside, to the west, reads 9°F colder.

Brushy Creek State Recreation Area, northeast of Lehigh, protects a forested canyon around a 690-acre lake. Around Lehigh, keep apricots, sweet cherries and pears out of the bottom; the floor is for apples, applecrabs, haskap, currants and gooseberries. If you're south toward Ames, the Ames and Des Moines map covers you.

Webster City, Briggs Woods and the Boone River

Webster City is Boone River Country. The Boone meanders along the east side of town, Brewer Creek drains through it to the river, and the river trail runs south to Briggs Woods Park and its lake on dammed Terwilliger Creek. Kendall Young built his house on a hilltop where the library now stands, and Brewer Creek Park has Hospital Hill, the sledding hill; rises like those are where I'd look first in town.

The town point, at 1,040 feet and only 10 feet above its floor, plans for −31°F, MFTC zone 3b, with a typical winter of −19°F, the coldest number of any named place on the map, and reads 8°F colder than Fort Dodge at bloom. Within 3 miles there's no bench ground at all, and the growing ground runs from −29°F to −31°F. Highview, up out of the valley west of town at 1,141 feet, plans for −25°F, MFTC zone 4a, with a typical winter of −14°F, the warmest number of any named place, though it reads 8°F colder than Fort Dodge at bloom. Kamrar, southeast of town, plans for −28°F and reads 7°F colder.

In Webster City itself, plant for −35°F or colder. Haralson, Honeycrisp and Zestar!® apples, Pipestone, Underwood and Black Ice plums with Toka, Evan's Bali tart cherry, and Summercrisp and Luscious pears on the higher lots all have room. Siberian C peach and Lapins and Gold cherries (all −35°F) clear the winter number but want your highest ground. Contender (−30°F) is only worth a try in town, on a high, sheltered lot, but it has room out at Highview. Give the Boone bottoms to applecrabs, haskap and currants; wild plum and crabapple already grow in Briggs Woods.

Eagle Grove, Woolstock and the upper Boone

Above Webster City the Boone comes down past Goldfield, Eagle Grove and Woolstock. Eagle Grove takes its name from eagle nests in an oak grove above the river bank. The town point, 20 feet above its floor, plans for −29°F, MFTC zone 4a, with a typical winter of −17°F, and reads 7°F colder than Fort Dodge at bloom. Woolstock, east of the Boone just above where Eagle Creek comes in, sits 40 feet above its floor and plans for −29°F. Its spring reading, 5°F colder than Fort Dodge, ties Clare's for the best of any named place away from Fort Dodge and Coalville, so it's the place up here to try an apricot. West of the Boone, Vincent plans for −26°F and Thor −27°F. Superior and Alderman plums with Toka, Mount Royal (the self-fruitful European plum Iowa State recommends statewide), and Wolf River and Cortland apples all clear −29°F with room to spare.

Clare, Badger and the prairie towns

West and north of Fort Dodge the map is upland prairie, once mostly wet and now drained by tile. Clare, at 1,214 feet, is the highest town on the map and the namesake of the Clare moraine. The town point sits 70 feet above its floor and plans for −26°F, MFTC zone 4a, with a typical winter of −14°F, and reads 5°F colder than Fort Dodge at bloom. Badger also plans for −26°F and reads 7°F colder. Southwest of Fort Dodge, Moorland plans for −29°F and so does Callender, on Webster's Prairies; both read 8°F to 9°F colder at bloom. Tara and Palm Grove plan for −27°F, and Lundgren −28°F.

Out here the winter number isn't the problem; bloom night is. Put early bloomers on whatever rise you have (Minnesota's fruit people say even 20 feet of drop within an orchard can make a difference), give the low, wet corners to apples, applecrabs and bush fruit, and plant a shelterbelt that holds snow without running across the low side of the orchard, where it would dam the cold. If you're west toward Sac City, the Storm Lake, Carroll and Sac City map covers you.

Spring frost and bloom along the Des Moines and the Boone

Bloom-night frost follows the same drainage as winter cold, only sharper, and the FAO's frost protection manual calls site selection the single most important method of frost protection. Open blossoms of apple, pear, cherry, peach, apricot and plum all start dying near 28°F, so a spot 4°F colder than town can lose a crop the town keeps.

NOAA's 1991 to 2020 frost dates line up. At Fort Dodge 5NNW the median last 32°F comes April 28, the last 28°F April 14 and the first fall 32°F October 8, for 164 frost-free days. At Webster City the last 32°F comes May 5, the last 28°F April 26 and the first fall 32°F September 29, for 150 days. One spring in 10 the last 32°F comes as late as May 9 at Fort Dodge 5NNW and May 16 at Webster City. Iowa State says apple trees in central Iowa stay in jeopardy from frost until the middle of May.

Early warmth is the danger. In April 2012, after a warm early spring pushed bloom ahead, freezes on April 10 and 11 dropped to 20°F at Iowa State's Horticulture Research Station near Gilbert, south of this map, and the superintendent expected little apple crop. Iowa State figures on a good apricot crop about one year in three, and a good peach crop one year in three or four.

So put apricots, peaches, plums and sweet cherries on the highest ground with the best spring reading, and apples, haskap and bush fruit lower. Bob Purvis likes an east-facing slope, which warms quickly on a frosty spring morning. Through bloom, mow under 2 inches, don't till, and water a day or two before a frost night. Frost cloth of 0.5, 0.9 and 1.5 ounces per square yard buys about 4°F, 6°F and 8°F. Only about 15 percent of apple blossoms need to set for a crop, and fully open haskap flowers take 19°F. Most fruit can lose half its blossoms with negligible effect; the frost does your thinning.

What the weather records say

NOAA station records here go back to the 1890s. The coldest readings on file are −35°F at Fort Dodge 5NNW on January 13, 1912, −34°F at Webster City on February 15, 1930, −33°F at Humboldt 2 on January 14, 1982, and −32°F at Clarion on January 21, 1970. The average yearly low over the full records is −19°F at Fort Dodge 5NNW and −21°F at Webster City.

NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals put Fort Dodge's average coldest night of the year at about −17°F. Averages like that are what USDA's zones are built on, and −17°F falls in USDA's zone 5a range (−20°F to −15°F). Our zones run about a full zone colder, 4a at Fort Dodge and 3b at Webster City, because we plan for the bad night: 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 around Fort Dodge and Webster City

Every plant we sell is zoned to the coldest temperature it's actually come through. Apples, pears and the hybrid plums need a second variety as a pollenizer; our pollination maps show which pair up.

The high prairie and the benches: −27°F or warmer

Clare, Badger, Highview, Judd, Vincent, Coalville, Thor, Tara, Duncombe, Palm Grove and the warmest ground around Fort Dodge.

• Apples: Honeycrisp, Zestar!®, Freedom, Liberty and Pristine (both −30°F)
• Pears: Luscious, Summercrisp, Seckel, D'Anjou
• Plums: Superior with Toka, Mount Royal, and Stanley (−30°F; Iowa State keeps it to the southern two-thirds of the state, but it clears the number here)
• Cherries: Lapins, Gold and Black Gold sweet cherries where the spring reading is good; Montmorency tart cherry
• Peaches and apricots: Contender, Veteran and Siberian C peaches; Sungold and Westcot apricots on your highest spot; Blushingstar worth a try against a south wall
• Grapes and berries: Marquette and Frontenac grapes, Boyne raspberry

The middle: −28°F to −29°F

Central Fort Dodge, Eagle Grove, Woolstock, Kamrar, Otho, Moorland, Callender, Roberts, Evanston, Brushy, Border Plains, Burnside, Jones Siding, Lundgren and most of the farm ground.

• Apples: Haralson, Spartan, Wolf River, Cortland, Wealthy; Centennial and Kerr applecrabs
• Pears: Ure, Cold Snap®, Summercrisp, on ground up out of the low spots
• Plums: Alderman, Pipestone, Underwood and Black Ice with Toka; Mount Royal
• Cherries: Evan's Bali and Meteor tart cherries, Romeo dwarf cherry; Lapins and Gold only on the higher lots
• Apricots and peaches: Westcot, Morden 604 and Debbie's Gold apricots where spring reads warm; Siberian C and Contender peaches
• Berries and vines: Honeyberry, Montana Black Currant, Pixwell gooseberry, Valiant grape

The river bottoms and Webster City: −30°F to −31°F

Webster City, Lehigh, Kalo, Shady Oak and the low ground along the Des Moines, the Boone and their creeks. These spots also read 8°F to 12°F colder than Fort Dodge at bloom, so they're for fruit that blooms late or shrugs off frost. Pears and plums go only on the highest ground you have.

• Apples and crabs: Kindercrisp, Norda, Wealthy, Haralson; Rescue and Trailman applecrabs. If you only plant one tree, make it Kerr or Trailman.
• Cherries: Evan's Bali, good to at least −40°F to −45°F, and Cutie Pie dwarf cherry
• Berries: Honeyberry, Golden Currant, Montana Black Currant (we've never seen winter damage on it), Aronia Berry

Roots, soil, pests and timing

Drainage decides survival here. Iowa State warns that fruit trees in poorly drained soil often die within a few years, and much of the upland is old wet prairie running on tile. Dig a hole 2 feet deep, fill it, let it drain, refill, and under 10 hours is well drained. At Ed Schultz's farm in Gallatin Gateway, Montana, Bud 118 apple rootstock has seen near −50°F with no rootstock damage, under snow, and the snow is the key part; a windbreak around 30 to 40 percent dense spreads it evenly. Iowa State's spray schedule names apple scab, cedar apple rust, fire blight, codling moth, plum curculio and apple maggot. Fence for deer before you plant, and keep wood-chip mulch back from trunks (one Iowa grower suspected mice girdled young trees under it). In zone 4 and colder we taper water from mid-August so trees harden off. Timing beats depth: after the Armistice Day freeze of November 11, 1940, Iowa's 1941 apple crop was about 15 percent of normal.

Fruit history here

In 1865 the Iowa State Gazetteer said Hamilton County's soil suited the hardier fruits, and apples, cherries and grapes had done well. About a century ago Iowa was the sixth-largest apple state. The Armistice Day freeze of 1940 ended that: in Des Moines it dropped from 54°F to 23°F in two hours and kept going to 9°F, most apple trees never recovered, and after World War II many surviving orchards were plowed under for soybeans. Today Community Orchards on 160th Street outside Fort Dodge grows about 20 apple varieties, presses cider and holds an apple festival the first weekend in October.

Questions people ask

What hardiness zone is Fort Dodge, Iowa?

Fort Dodge plans for −29°F, MFTC zone 4a, with a typical winter of −17°F. NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals put its average coldest night at about −17°F, in USDA's zone 5a range; USDA's zones are based on an average winter, ours on the bad night we plan for. Webster City plans for −31°F, zone 3b.

When is the last frost in Fort Dodge and Webster City?

NOAA station records for 1991 to 2020 put the median last 32°F on April 28 at Fort Dodge 5NNW and May 5 at Webster City. One spring in 10 it comes as late as May 9 and May 16.

Can you grow peaches in Fort Dodge?

Yes, with the right varieties. Iowa State recommends peaches only south of US Highway 30, which runs south of this map, but Siberian C (−35°F) clears even Webster City's −31°F planning low, and Contender (−30°F) clears Fort Dodge's −29°F. Put them in town or on the Coalville bench, where bloom nights run warmest.

Can sweet cherries grow in Webster City?

The trees can. Lapins, Gold and Black Gold have come through −35°F, below Webster City's −31°F planning low. The catch is bloom: Webster City reads 8°F colder than Fort Dodge on a still spring night, so give them the highest spot you have.

What plum trees grow in northern Iowa?

The Minnesota hybrids Alderman, Pipestone, Superior and Underwood, plus Black Ice, with Toka as the pollenizer, have come through −35°F to −40°F and fit anywhere on this map. Stanley (−30°F) only fits ground that plans for −30°F or warmer.

Where are the frost pockets around Fort Dodge?

Down in the Des Moines valley and its draws. Kalo and Lehigh plan for −30°F and read 12°F colder than Fort Dodge on a still bloom night. The warmer ground is up on the valley sides, like the Coalville bench at −27°F.

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.