Fruit Trees for Greeley, Windsor and Eaton, Colorado

In the January 2017 cold snap, NOAA's University of Northern Colorado station, in town on Greeley's south side, bottomed out at −16°F. The Greeley airport station, out on the low ground east of town, and the Lucerne station, 5 miles from UNC, both hit −32°F. That 16°F gap is the place to start with fruit trees for Greeley, Windsor and Eaton: on a still winter night the cold slides off the plains into the river bottoms, and a few dozen feet of height decides a lot.

This map covers the lower Cache la Poudre and the South Platte in Weld County, Northern Colorado's farm country: Greeley, Evans, Garden City, Windsor, Severance, Eaton, Ault, Pierce, Johnstown, Milliken, La Salle, Gilcrest and Kersey. 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 number on the map is the 30-year planning low, the number to plan for at that spot. Our cold hardiness calculator uses the same number. It leans to the safe side, and it isn't the record. The MFTC zone is that number in half zones. "Typical winter" is an average year's coldest night, the kind of number USDA's zones are built on, which is why USDA zones read warmer than ours. The spring layer shows how many degrees warmer or colder a spot runs than downtown Greeley on a still, clear night at bloom.

The middle of the growing ground here plans for −33°F (MFTC 3b), and half of it falls between −34°F and −31°F. Downtown Greeley, our reference, plans for −30°F (MFTC 3b), typical winter about −15°F. Windsor and the Elwell bench west of Johnstown are the warm end at −27°F (MFTC 4a); Hambert and Peckham, on the South Platte bottom between La Salle and Gilcrest, are the cold end at −35°F (MFTC 3a). Among the named places, the spring layer runs from 5°F warmer than downtown on the Elwell bench to 4°F colder at Adna, on the river bottom east of Milliken.

Why the map looks the way it does

This is the Colorado Piedmont, the broad valley worn down below the High Plains along the foot of the Front Range, and in Weld County it's close to flat: less than 500 feet separates the South Platte bottom at Kuner from Pierce on the north edge. The plain tilts gently east and southeast. The Cache la Poudre runs along the west and south sides of Windsor, passes north of downtown Greeley and joins the South Platte about 5 miles east of town. The Big Thompson and Little Thompson meet near Milliken, and the Big Thompson reaches the South Platte about 5 miles south of Greeley. On a clear, calm night the whole plain loses heat to the sky, and the coldest, heaviest air collects in those bottoms and creeps downstream toward Kersey.

NOAA station records show how strong that is. Over 31 years, the Kersey 1 station, at 4,625 feet down by the South Platte, has run a median 10°F colder on the year's coldest night than the UNC station in town, at 4,765 feet and 9 miles away. Peckham runs 8°F colder than UNC, Lucerne and Ault 7°F colder. The low stations (Kersey, Peckham, La Salle, the airport) average a yearly low of −19°F to −22°F; UNC averages −12°F.

Often the pool is shallow, and that's where the thermal belt comes from. In the February 2007 cold snap Kersey 1 read −27°F while Ault, 285 feet higher, read −10°F: 17°F across less than 300 feet of rise. Within 3 miles of downtown Greeley the floor plans for a median −33°F and the benches 100 to 700 feet up for −28°F. Utah State says ground 50 to 100 feet above the valley floor is less freeze prone, and on a plain this flat, 50 feet is a lot.

Deep arctic air is another animal. Arctic fronts back in against the mountains from the north, reaching Sterling first, then Greeley, then the I-25 corridor, as Denver7's chief meteorologist Lisa Hidalgo describes it, and cold that deep fills the whole plain. In the January 2024 cold snap Kersey 1 read −32°F and Nunn 7 NNE, at 5,390 feet on the north edge, −29°F. In the February 2014 snap Ault was the coldest station on file at −29°F. On nights like those the benches have little edge. The planning low carries both kinds of night; the spring layer is the still-night pattern only.

The west side runs warmer. In the January 2017 snap, Fort Collins 4 E, at the map's west edge, read −20°F and the Fort Collins-Loveland airport −17°F, while Lucerne and the Greeley airport hit −32°F. Colorado's climate center says polar air on the plains is often too shallow to cross the mountains, and chinooks moderate winter mainly where a place is near enough to the mountains to get them often. Windsor, Johnstown and west Greeley are the near side of this map, and the numbers follow the stations: Windsor plans for −27°F, Kersey −35°F.

Town heat counts too. The UNC station sits on Greeley's built-up south side, where pavement and buildings hold heat on a still night, and downtown plans for −30°F against −33°F on the floor around it. Water doesn't help much. The gravel-pit lakes strung along the Poudre are small, and a river floor is still a floor: Spanish Colony, on the Poudre bottom, plans for −35°F. Low, grassy, damp bottom ground makes its own cold on a clear night. Aspect matters on the few real slopes. The Poudre's north-facing bluffs near Sharkstooth, about 150 feet high, held enough snow that two skiers started a little ski area there around 1970, and slopes like that bloom later; Colorado State warns against the warm south or west side of a building for apples and cherries.

Downtown Greeley, the UNC district and west Greeley

Downtown Greeley sits on the Union Colony plat south of the Poudre, 400-foot blocks around Lincoln Park on streets Nathan Meeker named for trees. Our downtown pin, on a toe slope 30 feet above the floor, plans for −30°F (MFTC 3b), typical winter about −15°F. Within 3 miles the floor plans for a median −33°F, the benches −28°F and the coldest tenth of the growing ground −34°F.

The neighborhoods around the university (Glenmere and Cranford, Glen Mere Park, the Monroe Historic District on 9th Avenue) are on that same built-up side. The UNC station's coldest reading since 1968 is −25°F, on January 18, 1984, and downtown's −30°F planning low is colder than the −20°F that station has bottomed out at since 1995. Plant fruit that has come through −35°F or colder: Honeycrisp (−45°F), Haralson (−45°F), Lapins sweet cherry (−35°F), Bartlett pear (−35°F), Superior plum (−35°F) with Toka (−45°F) to pollenize it, and Siberian C peach (−35°F).

West Greeley climbs onto rolling ground and low hills: Kelly Farm at 4th Street and 50th Avenue, Cambridge Glen at 47th Avenue and 14th Street, Pine Ridge Estates at 16th Street and 38th Avenue, Covington Knolls at 20th Street and 66th Avenue. USDA's 2023 map puts west Greeley's ZIP code, 80634, a half zone warmer than central and east Greeley's 80631, and our map agrees on the direction. For Country Club West, Highland Hills, Promontory and other subdivisions, type your address in the box: a lot up like the benches can plan near −28°F, a lot on the floor closer to −33°F. Sheep Draw, which runs from southwest Greeley to the Poudre, carries cold air down through the high ground, so keep apricots and peaches off its bottom.

East Greeley, Spanish Colony and the Poudre bottom

North and east of downtown the ground drops to the Poudre bottom and flattens toward the confluence. Spanish Colony, at O Street and 25th Avenue, one of the 13 colonies Great Western Sugar built for farm workers in the 1920s, sits on the river bottom 10 feet above the local floor. It plans for −35°F (MFTC 3b), typical winter about −20°F, and reads 3°F colder than downtown on a bloom night. East Greeley (East Meadows, Riverview Farm, Balsam Village) is the side toward the confluence, and the airport, about 3 nautical miles east of downtown, plans for −33°F (MFTC 3b) and reads 2°F colder in spring. Down here, plant fruit that has come through −40°F or colder: Haralson, Wealthy (−50°F), Kerr applecrab (−50°F), Evan's Bali tart cherry, good to at least −40°F to −45°F, honeyberry (−50°F) and Montana Black Currant (−50°F).

Evans and Garden City

Evans, settled in 1867 and Weld County's seat until 1877, sits between Greeley and the South Platte. Our Evans pin, on the floor 30 feet up, plans for −30°F (MFTC 3b), typical winter about −15°F, and reads even with downtown Greeley on a bloom night; within 3 miles the floor plans for −33°F and the benches −28°F. Garden City, wedged between Greeley and Evans, plans for −29°F (MFTC 4a) and reads 2°F warmer than downtown in spring, and Rosedale, between Garden City and Evans, plans for −29°F (MFTC 4a) and reads 3°F warmer. That built-up strip, 60 feet above the floor, is good ground for early bloomers: Siberian C and Contender peaches (−35°F and −30°F), Westcot apricot (−45°F) and Black Gold sweet cherry (−35°F).

Windsor, Severance and the Poudre bluffs

Windsor grew up on the rich alluvial plain of the Poudre, which runs along its west and south sides. Our Windsor pin, on the floor 30 feet up, plans for −27°F (MFTC 4a), typical winter about −12°F, the warmest of the map's towns, and reads 1°F colder than downtown Greeley on a bloom night. Within 3 miles the benches plan for a median near −25°F and the coldest tenth of the growing ground −31°F.

The cold side is the low ground. River Bluffs Open Space has old bluffs above a flat floodplain still used for hay, and northeast of town Bruce, a river-bottom site, plans for −31°F and reads 3°F colder than downtown Greeley in spring. Water Valley's gravel-pit lakes and Windsor Lake are too small to change the frost pattern much, so plant by the height of your lot. Windsor has room for fruit rated −30°F: Rainier and Stella sweet cherries, Montmorency tart cherry, Stanley plum and Cox Orange Pippin apple. Blushingstar peach, which came through −25°F at our place on January 13, 2024 without damage, is worth a try on Windsor's benches. If you're in Fort Collins or Loveland, our Denver, Boulder and Northern Front Range map covers you.

Severance, northwest of Greeley, plans for −31°F (MFTC 3b), typical winter about −16°F, and reads even with downtown Greeley in spring. Within 3 miles the floor plans for −30°F and the benches −29°F. Fruit rated −35°F or colder fits.

Eaton, Ault, Pierce and the north plains

North of Greeley, US 85 climbs gently through Eaton, Ault and Pierce onto the high plain. Ault was first called High Land, but higher doesn't buy much warmth here. This is flat, open plain (around Ault the map finds almost no bench ground), and the Ault station runs a median 7°F colder than UNC on the year's coldest night. Eaton plans for −33°F (MFTC 3b), typical winter about −17°F, and reads even with downtown Greeley in spring; within 3 miles the floor plans for −34°F and the benches −31°F. Ault and Pierce plan for −32°F (MFTC 3b) and Lucerne −33°F (MFTC 3b). Of the named places up here, the best spring ground is the Purcell bench east of Pierce, 100 feet above its floor, which plans for −32°F and reads 2°F warmer than downtown Greeley.

Apples do fine on this plain: Adam's Apple Orchard in Ault grows over 150 apple varieties, and Worrell Family Farm & Orchard in Eaton has over 1,000 trees. Plant fruit that has come through −35°F or colder: Haralson, Honeycrisp, Zestar!® (−40°F), Kerr, Summercrisp pear (−40°F), Toka and Superior plums, and Meteor tart cherry (−40°F).

Johnstown, Milliken and the Thompson rivers

Johnstown sits about 10 miles west-southwest of Greeley, just west of where the Little Thompson joins the Big Thompson. Our pin, on a toe slope 70 feet above the floor, plans for −30°F (MFTC 3b), typical winter about −15°F, and reads 4°F warmer than downtown Greeley on a bloom night, the best spring reading of any town here. Within 3 miles the floor plans for −32°F and the benches −29°F. Johnstown Farms and Paradise Village, on the floor, plan for −31°F (MFTC 3b). West of town the Elwell bench sits 150 feet above its floor, plans for −27°F (MFTC 4a) and reads 5°F warmer than downtown, the warmest spring reading of any named place on the map. Bunyan, south of town, is 100 feet up and plans for −29°F, but it sits in a draw and reads 2°F colder in spring.

Milliken, first known as Hillsboro, sits on the floor near where the Little Thompson comes in. It plans for −33°F (MFTC 3b), typical winter about −18°F, and reads 1°F colder than downtown; within 3 miles the floor plans for −34°F and the benches −30°F. Adna, on the river bottom just east of town, plans for −34°F and reads 4°F colder than downtown, the coldest spring reading of any named place on the map. Dent, southeast of town, plans for the same −34°F but sits on a 16 percent toe slope where the cold keeps sliding off, and reads 2°F warmer. Same winter, a 6°F to 7°F difference at bloom. Put plums and cherries on the Dent kind of ground, apples, haskap and currants on the Adna kind.

La Salle, Gilcrest, Kersey and the South Platte bottoms

South and east of Greeley the South Platte bottoms hold the coldest named places on the map. La Salle plans for −34°F (MFTC 3b), typical winter about −19°F, and reads even with downtown Greeley in spring, though East La Salle reads 3°F colder; the La Salle station has the coldest average yearly low of any station here, −22°F. Gilcrest plans for −35°F (MFTC 3b), typical winter about −20°F. Between them, Hambert and Peckham plan for −35°F (MFTC 3a). Kersey, near the site of Elbridge Gerry's 1830s trading post on the South Platte, plans for −35°F (MFTC 3b), typical winter about −19°F, and reads 2°F colder than downtown in spring; within 3 miles the benches plan for −33°F and the coldest tenth −36°F. Around Kersey and Gilcrest the map finds very little higher ground, so the planting list has to do the work. Stick with fruit that has come through −40°F or colder: Haralson, Wealthy, Kerr, Dolgo crab (−55°F), Toka, Brookred plum (−50°F), Evan's Bali, honeyberry, Montana Black Currant and Nanking cherry (−50°F). Save pears for a rise.

Spring frost and bloom on the Poudre and South Platte

The spring layer follows the same drainage. On a still bloom night the bottoms read worst: Adna and Hardman 4°F colder than downtown Greeley, Bruce, Bracewell, Hambert and Spanish Colony 3°F colder. The rises read best: Elwell 5°F warmer, Johnstown 4°F, Rosedale and Jackson Field 3°F, Garden City, Dent and the Purcell bench 2°F. Open blossoms of apple, pear, cherry, peach, apricot and plum all start dying at about 28°F, and NC State's fruit people say 3°F to 4°F can separate no crop from a full one.

The station frost dates line up. Over 1991 to 2020, the UNC station's median last 32°F comes May 3 and its last 28°F April 18, with 154 frost-free days. Kersey 1 gets its last 32°F May 11 and its last 28°F May 2, two weeks later, with 138 frost-free days. One spring in ten the last 32°F comes as late as May 19 at UNC and May 24 at Kersey 1. CSU Extension's NoCo Bloom newsletter gives the Northern Front Range's average frost-free period as May 7 to October 2. We haven't found a documented spring freeze crop loss for Greeley or Windsor, but just west of the map, Loveland's cherry industry was finally finished by a killer freeze after drought, blight and competition from Michigan.

Apricots, peaches and sweet cherries go on ground that reads at or above downtown Greeley in spring: the Elwell and Johnstown rises, the Garden City and Rosedale strip, Dent's slope, the Purcell bench. Plums and pears go within a degree or two of downtown. The bottoms get apples (only about 15 percent of apple blossoms need to set for a crop), haskap (open flowers take 19°F), currants and gooseberries. In Montana's bad bloom-time frost of spring 2026, Red Lake and Montana Black Currant fruited well after their flower buds saw about 22°F. CSU suggests a thick wood-chip mulch spread after the ground freezes to hold apricot bloom back, and frost cloth helps on still nights: Alabama Extension's figures give 4°F, 6°F and 8°F of protection for 0.5, 0.9 and 1.5 ounce per square yard fabric.

What the weather records say

The coldest reading on file here is −45°F, on February 12, 1899, at the old Greeley station that ran from 1896 to 1961. Since 1995, the winters our number is built on, the low stations have bottomed out at −31°F to −32°F: Kersey 1 on December 31, 2014 and again on January 16, 2024, Lucerne and the Greeley airport on January 6, 2017, La Salle on January 16, 2024. The map plans for colder: −35°F at Kersey 1 and −36°F at La Salle, against the −32°F and −31°F they've recorded.

Timing matters as much as depth. Peckham's coldest reading, −31°F, came on November 30, 2004, early in the winter, when trees may not be fully hardened; in Michigan, tart cherry buds that died at about −12°F in November survived about −20°F in January. Chinooks add a second risk. Colorado's climate center says they can raise temperatures 25°F to 35°F in a short time, and apple bark has lost about 27°F of hardiness in one warm day and needed three cold days to get it back.

On USDA's 2023 map, Windsor, Severance, Johnstown, Milliken, Evans and Pierce come up 5b, Eaton, Ault, Kersey, La Salle and Gilcrest 5a, and Greeley splits between them. USDA builds its zones on the average winter's coldest night, and our typical winter agrees (about −15°F downtown). We zone on the bad night, so our MFTC zones run 3a to 4a here.

What you can grow in Greeley, Windsor and the lower Poudre

Every pick below has come through at least its band's planning low; "worth a try" means within 5°F, in a good spot.

Windsor, the Elwell bench, Garden City and Rosedale, −29°F or warmer. Cox Orange Pippin and Liberty apples, D'Anjou pear, Stanley plum, Rainier and Stella sweet cherries, Montmorency tart cherry, Contender peach, Goldrich apricot and SnowCzar almond, all −30°F. Blushingstar peach (−25°F) is worth a try on Windsor's benches.

Downtown Greeley, Evans, Johnstown, Severance and the north towns, −30°F to −33°F. Haralson, Lodi (−45°F) and Northwest Greening (−40°F) apples, Summercrisp pear, Superior plum with Toka, Italian plum (−35°F), and on the warm-reading spots Lapins sweet cherry, Westcot apricot and Siberian C peach. Contender, Rainier and Montmorency (−30°F) are worth a try in town lots and on the Johnstown rises.

The Poudre and South Platte bottoms, −34°F to −36°F. Haralson and Wealthy apples, Kerr and Trailman (−60°F) applecrabs, Dolgo crab, Toka plum, Evan's Bali tart cherry, honeyberry, Montana Black Currant and Nanking cherry. Lapins and Superior (−35°F) are worth a try on a rise, not the bottom.

Colorado State's apple list includes Haralson, Lodi, Northwest Greening and Wealthy, and CSU says to plant two apple varieties so each pollenizes the other. Lapins and Stella set fruit on their own; Superior and the other hybrid plums want a partner like Toka, and our pollination maps show which bloom together. Roots are the weak link: dormant apple roots are seriously hurt near 10°F while the wood takes about −40°F, so mulch the root zone where snow blows off and use a hardy stock (at Ed Schultz's farm in Gallatin Gateway, Montana, Bud 118 has seen near −50°F under snow with no rootstock damage). Drip is the only irrigation we advise; Colorado's old orchards built up salt from over-irrigation and poor drainage. Taper water from mid-August so trees harden off.

The local problems: fire blight on Front Range apples and pears in warm, wet springs (Windsor's tree list won't recommend Hopa crabapple); hail, 7 to 9 days a year on the farmland around Greeley and 6 to 12 at Windsor; codling moth, so clean up fallen leaves and apples; and sunscald, so wrap young peach trunks from about mid-November to mid-April, as CSU advises. The regional terrace soils (the Nunn and Fort Collins series) are loam to clay loam with lime 8 to 30 inches down, so work organic matter into the clay. Along the Poudre, figure on deer, rabbits and prairie dogs.

Fruit history in Greeley and Weld County

Fruit was in Greeley's plan from the start. Nathan Meeker's 1869 circular for the Union Colony told the site committee to look for "adaptation to fruit." The magnolias, oaks and other trees he planted along the streets failed in the climate, and the losses left him in debt. An early Weld County Nursery catalog from Greeley shows what worked once people learned: Yellow Transparent, Wealthy, Wolf River and Jonathan apples; Hyslop and other crabs that "do extra well in this locality"; Montmorency and Early Richmond cherries; Italian Prune and other plums that "do well here"; pears "mostly an experiment as yet"; and no peaches or apricots at all. A century later, our map backs that up: Wealthy (−50°F), Wolf River (−45°F) and Hyslop (−40°F) clear the planning low at every named place on it, and Montmorency (−30°F) fits only the warmest ground.

Questions people ask

What growing zone is Greeley, Colorado?

USDA's 2023 map puts central and east Greeley (ZIP 80631) in zone 5a and west Greeley (80634) in 5b, built on an average winter's coldest night. We plan for the bad night: downtown Greeley plans for −30°F, MFTC 3b, and the growing ground around it runs from about −35°F on the South Platte bottoms to −27°F at Windsor.

What zone is Windsor, Colorado?

USDA's 2023 map puts Windsor's ZIP code, 80550, in zone 5b. Our map plans for −27°F in Windsor, MFTC 4a, the warmest of the towns here, with typical winter about −12°F. The benches nearby plan near −25°F, and the Poudre bottom runs colder.

When is the last frost in Greeley?

NOAA's 1991 to 2020 medians put the last 32°F on May 3 at the UNC station in town and May 11 at Kersey 1 down by the South Platte, and one spring in ten as late as May 19 and May 24. The last 28°F, where open blossoms start dying, comes April 18 at UNC and May 2 at Kersey 1.

Why is east Greeley colder than west Greeley?

East Greeley sits lower, toward the Poudre bottom and the South Platte confluence, where cold air drains and pools on still nights, while west Greeley climbs onto rolling ground above it. Within 3 miles of downtown the floor plans for −33°F and the benches −28°F.

Can you grow peaches in Greeley?

Yes, with the right peach in the right spot. CSU says peaches are damaged around −12°F to −14°F and frost often nips the flowers on the high plains. Siberian C has come through −35°F, colder than downtown's −30°F planning low, and Contender, which Tom McCamant grows at Forbidden Fruit Orchard in Paradise, Montana, is the only commercial peach we know of that has taken −32°F. Plant them on rises that read warm in spring, like Garden City, Rosedale or the Johnstown slopes.

Can you grow sweet cherries in Northern Colorado?

Sometimes. CSU says sweet cherries are more dependable on the Western Slope and only sometimes work in eastern urban areas. Lapins (−35°F) clears the −30°F planning low in downtown Greeley, Evans and Johnstown, and one of our growers in Cowley, Wyoming reported no damage on Lapins at −33°F. Put sweet cherries where the spring layer reads warm, and Evan's Bali tart cherry on the bottoms.

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.