Fruit Trees for Kearney, Grand Island and the Platte Valley, Nebraska

On January 27, 1963, the Grand Island airport station read −28°F while the Hastings 4N station, 22 miles south, read −16°F. That's 12°F across country most people call flat, and it's why choosing fruit trees for Kearney, Grand Island and the Platte Valley starts with where your place sits.

The map covers the Central Platte Valley from Kearney and Riverdale east past Grand Island to Kuesters Lake, the hills north to Ravenna, Pleasanton and Cairo, and the Rainwater Basin plain around Hastings, Juniata and Kenesaw: the Tri Cities of south-central Nebraska and the country between them. 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

Every number is a 30-year planning low, the same number our cold hardiness calculator uses, built from NOAA station records since the 1995-96 winter and adjusted for the lay of the land. It's a safe number to plan on, not the record. With it you get the MFTC zone (that number in half zones), the typical winter (an average year's coldest night, the kind of number USDA's zones are built on, which is why they read warmer than ours) and a spring layer: how much warmer or colder a spot runs than Kearney on a still, clear night at bloom.

Kearney, the reference, plans for −25°F (MFTC zone 4a) with a typical winter of −12°F. The middle of the growing ground plans for −26°F, and nine tenths of it falls between −28°F and −24°F. The warm end is the south side and the few rises (Heartwell −23°F; Hastings, Prosser and Prairie Center −24°F, zone 4b), the cold end the north edge (Ravenna and Pleasanton −28°F, Sweetwater −29°F). Grand Island also rounds to −25°F, a hair on the 4b side of the line. The spring layer spreads wider, from 5°F colder than Kearney on the river bottoms to 7°F warmer on the hillside at Topeka Peak.

Why the map looks the way it does

The Platte valley here is wide and nearly flat, falling east about 6 to 7 ft per mile, from 2,152 ft at Kearney to 1,860 ft at Grand Island. North of it Buffalo County turns to rolling hills; south of the river lies the Rainwater Basin loess plain. On a grade that gentle, cold air doesn't drain anywhere fast. On a clear, calm night most of the floor's cold is made right where it sits, as the ground gives up its heat to the sky, and there it stays. That's why the floor from Kearney to Grand Island plans for −25°F to −26°F nearly everywhere.

North runs colder. The Ravenna station, 84 ft lower and 22 miles north of Kearney 4 NE, runs a median 3°F colder on the year's coldest night over 103 years of NOAA station records, and has the coldest average yearly low here (−18°F, against −14°F). Nobody we know of has explained it, but the map sees a town sitting low in its valley. The south end runs warm. The Hastings airport station has the mildest average yearly low (−11°F) and the longest frost-free season (169 days), and in December 1989, when Ravenna read −31°F, Hastings 4N read −23°F. But in February 2021, when every station on the map read −26°F to −30°F, the Hastings airport was the coldest at −30°F. On nights like that the warm spots wash out.

The river bottoms barely differ in winter, but they're the cold ground at bloom. The old Fort Kearny site, Denman, Hayland, Kuesters Lake and Kingwood Estates all plan for −25°F to −26°F, about like the floor, yet run 3°F to 5°F colder than Kearney on a still bloom night. On those nights the coldest air hugs the lowest ground, so a few feet of height counts. USGS mapping just west of here found Platte terraces stepping up 5 to 7.5 ft above the floodplain, then 45 to 97.5 ft; as Minnesota's fruit people put it, "Even 20 feet of elevation drop within an orchard can make a difference." The Platte, broad, shallow and braided (a mile wide and inches deep, the pioneers said), won't warm you; a river floor is still a floor. Valley fog sometimes helps; the Weather Service found winter radiation fog at Grand Island can sit under the inversion for days, and a low cloud deck cuts the ground's nighttime heat loss by roughly 85 to 90 percent (that's from the FAO's frost protection manual).

The few places that stand out of the floor are the best fruit ground. Topeka Peak, about a mile northwest of Prosser, is hillside 100 ft above the floor on a 7 percent slope: −24°F (zone 4b) and 7°F warmer than Kearney at bloom, the best spring reading of any named place. Prairie Center, 11 miles north of Kearney and 80 ft above its floor, plans for −24°F and runs 3°F warmer. That's the thermal belt, above the cold pool and below the windy tops; Utah State's extension service says ground 50 to 100 ft above the valley floor is less freeze prone.

Towns add a little: Hastings and Grand Island each plan about a degree warmer than the floor around them. Wind matters more. UNL says drying from wind and low humidity is the main cause of winter injury in Nebraska, and open ground loses its snow, the thing that keeps roots alive on a hard night, so shelter that holds snow pays twice. South of the river, watch the Rainwater Basin depressions, shallow closed basins over a nearly watertight clay layer. Most are gone, drained or leveled, and nobody has measured one on a frost night that we know of, but a closed basin fills with cold air up to its lowest notch before it spills, so treat the bottom of one as a frost pocket. The crescent ridge many have on the southeast side is the better ground.

Kearney, the west-side slopes and the Fort Kearny bottom

Kearney sits on flat floor at 2,152 ft, about a mile north of the Platte. It plans for −25°F (zone 4a), typical winter −12°F, with the floor around it at −26°F and the bits of slope and bench at −24°F. Both Kearney stations, 4 to 5 miles east-northeast of town, have 30-year numbers of −26°F. Inside town the spring layer shows the difference. The west side climbs onto a toe slope: the Cottonmill and R-Villa courts, 50 ft above the floor, plan for −25°F, and Cottonmill runs 2°F warmer than the city center at bloom. The east side is flat floor 10 ft above the bottom, where East Lawn and Valley View plan for −26°F and run about a degree colder. Glenwood Park north of town and Alfalfa Center to the west plan for −26°F (Alfalfa Center runs 3°F colder at bloom), and Riverdale to the northwest −27°F.

The cold side is south toward the river. The old Fort Kearny site, several miles southeast on the Platte opposite its wooded islands, is river bottom: −26°F, and 5°F colder than town on a bloom night, with Newark nearby 3°F colder. Apricots and sweet cherries belong on the west-side slope or up toward Prairie Center instead. With Kearney 4 NE at −28°F in 2021, lean on trees rated −30°F or colder: Haralson (−45°F), Honeycrisp (−45°F) and Liberty (−30°F) apples, Toka (−45°F) to pollenize Superior (−35°F), Meteor (−40°F) tart cherry, and on the slope, Lapins (−35°F) sweet cherry and Contender peach (−30°F). Blushingstar (−25°F) came through −25°F at our place on January 13, 2024, but at Kearney's number it's a gamble.

Gibbon, Shelton and Wood River

The Wood River runs east through Gibbon, Shelton and the town of Wood River to the Platte at Alda. This is the most uniform stretch on the map, with no bench ground within 3 miles of any of the three and the ground around each at −25°F to −26°F. Gibbon (2,064 ft) plans for −25°F (zone 4a), typical winter −12°F; the Wood River flooded it in March 2019, so it's low creek ground. Shelton (2,020 ft), once Wood River Centre, and Wood River (1,964 ft), about 3.5 miles north of the Platte, plan for −26°F with typical winters of −12°F. All three run about a degree colder than Kearney at bloom.

The bottoms show up in spring. Denman, on the river bottom about 6 miles south of Shelton, plans for −26°F but runs 4°F colder than Kearney at bloom, and Cameron, 7 miles north of Wood River, plans for −27°F and runs 5°F colder, the coldest bloom reading of any named place. Plant for −26°F with room to spare: Kindercrisp (−50°F) and Spartan (−45°F) apples, Luscious (−40°F) pear, Hanska (−40°F) plum and Valiant (−50°F) grape, with the earliest bloomers on whatever rise you've got. A Gibbon vineyard was a field-day stop in 2007, the spring an April freeze damaged Nebraska vineyards slightly to severely by site and variety.

Grand Island, Alda and Doniphan

Grand Island sits a few miles north of the Platte at 1,860 ft, the lowest city on the map, named for La Grande Isle, the island the Wood River and the Platte form here. There's no bench ground within 3 miles; it's all floor. The city plans for −25°F (zone 4b) with a typical winter of −12°F and runs about even with Kearney at bloom; the ground within 3 miles runs −24°F to −26°F.

In town the spread is small. Pioneer Estates on the north side plans for −25°F and runs 2°F colder than Kearney at bloom. Parkview and Kingwood Estates on the south side plan for −26°F, and Kingwood Estates, on river bottom, runs about 3°F colder at bloom. Kuesters Lake, 2 miles east at 1,829 ft, the lowest named place on the map, plans for −26°F and runs 5°F colder. In neighborhoods like Stolley Park, a south or west wall is the spot for the tenderest tree. Alda (1,913 ft), where the Wood River meets the Platte, and Doniphan (1,945 ft), 50 ft above the floor, both plan for −25°F (zone 4b), and Doniphan's height buys it a degree over the floor around it (−26°F). Trumbull plans for −25°F, Abbott and Ovina −26°F, Rosedale −27°F.

Plant for −25°F in town and −26°F to −27°F on the low ground: Freedom (−35°F), Liberty (−30°F) and Enterprise (−30°F) are the apples Hall County's extension horticulturist recommends for scab and cedar-apple rust resistance, plus Montmorency (−30°F) tart cherry and Harrow Sweet pear (−30°F). Keep apricots and sweet cherries off the south-side bottoms. Farther down the river, the Omaha, Council Bluffs and Loess Hills map takes over.

Hastings, Juniata, Kenesaw and the Rainwater Basin

Hastings is different country: the Rainwater Basin loess plain at 1,926 ft, with groundwater 40 to 200 ft down instead of a few feet and closed basins instead of river bottoms. Hastings plans for −24°F (zone 4b) with a typical winter of −10°F, the mildest of the Tri Cities, and runs about even with Kearney at bloom. The ground within 3 miles runs −24°F to −27°F. Watch the station split: the airport, west-northwest of downtown, has a 30-year number of −24°F and Hastings 4N, 4 miles north of town, −27°F. The map gives −26°F out there, so north of town, plan a couple of degrees colder.

The oldest neighborhoods, Heartwell Park and Central Hastings, sit on the same floor as downtown. The Shady Lane and Smittys courts on the south side and Good Samaritan Village plan for −24°F (zone 4b), Kingswood Plaza on the east side −25°F, and Ingleside, 3 miles west, −26°F and 2°F colder at bloom. Out on the plain Juniata plans for −25°F (zone 4a), Kenesaw −26°F and 2°F colder at bloom, and Blaine, 3 miles northeast of Hastings at 1,895 ft, −27°F, colder than the floor around it. We don't know what puts Blaine low; on a plain like this, watch where smoke goes on a calm evening and plant the rise.

Hastings's −24°F opens up the most of any city here. Contender (−30°F) and Siberian C (−35°F) peaches have room, and Blushingstar (−25°F) clears the number but wants a sheltered south wall. Empire (−35°F) apple, Bartlett (−35°F) pear and Stanley (−30°F) and Italian (−35°F) plums fit too. Rainier (−30°F) sweet cherry clears it, but UNL treats sweet cherries as a trial in protected sites.

Prosser, Heartwell and the country south of the river

South of the river, a mile can matter more than anywhere else on the map. Prosser (2,045 ft), 40 ft above the floor, plans for −24°F (zone 4b) with a typical winter of −11°F. Topeka Peak, a mile northwest, plans for −24°F and runs 7°F warmer than Kearney at bloom. Hayland, 1.6 miles southwest of Prosser on ground the map reads as river bottom, plans for −25°F but runs 4°F colder. Less than 3 miles apart, those two spots differ by 11°F on a still bloom night. West of Prosser, Lowell and Newark plan for −26°F and run 3°F colder. Heartwell (2,095 ft), 30 ft above its floor near the south edge, is the warmest town on the map at −23°F (zone 4b), typical winter −10°F. Here anything rated −30°F has room, and slopes like Topeka Peak's are where Harlayne (−30°F) and Montana Mango (−35°F) apricots belong. On the bottoms around Hayland, plant apples, pears and bush fruit.

Ravenna, Pleasanton, Cairo and the north hills

North of the valley the towns sit low among rolling hills, and a short climb buys you 3°F. Ravenna (2,004 ft) plans for −28°F (zone 4a) with a typical winter of −14°F; the floor within 3 miles plans for −29°F and the benches −26°F. The Ravenna station, half a mile northwest of town, has the shortest frost-free season here, 151 days. Pleasanton (2,083 ft), on ground the map reads as river bottom, plans for −28°F and runs 3°F colder than Kearney at bloom, while its benches plan for −25°F. Sweetwater, between the two, plans for −29°F, the coldest named place on the map. Saint Michael plans for −28°F, and Cairo, east of Ravenna, −27°F with benches at −25°F.

On the floor at −28°F to −29°F, pick trees rated −35°F or colder and save the −30°F ones for the benches: September Ruby (−55°F) and Wealthy (−50°F) apples, Centennial applecrab (−50°F, zero winter injury after −47°F at Ed Schultz's in Gallatin Gateway, Montana), Bolshaya pear (−50°F), Brookred plum (−50°F) and Evan's Bali tart cherry (good to at least −40°F to −45°F).

Spring frost and bloom in the Platte Valley

The spring layer follows the same lay of the land, only stronger: Topeka Peak 7°F warmer than Kearney on a still bloom night and Prairie Center 3°F warmer, while Cameron, Kuesters Lake and the Fort Kearny site run 5°F colder, Denman and Hayland 4°F colder and Pleasanton 3°F colder. Most towns sit within a degree or two of Kearney. That spread matters: open blossoms of nearly every tree fruit start dying near 28°F (that's from Michigan State's fruit people), and the Nebraska Forest Service puts apples at bloom losing about 90 percent at 25°F or below, peaches at full bloom about 90 percent at 24°F.

NOAA station records for 1991 to 2020 give the median last 32°F frost as April 25 at the Hastings airport (169 frost-free days), April 28 at the Grand Island airport (166 days), April 30 at Kearney 4 NE (161 days) and May 4 at Ravenna (151 days). The last 28°F runs April 14 to April 27 across the same stations, and one year in ten the last 32°F comes as late as May 11 at Grand Island and May 18 at Ravenna. The Weather Service office in Hastings says June has never had a freeze, though Hall County's 1890 history records a crop-damaging frost on June 16, 1869, so the sources differ. UNL's CropWatch has Grand Island's average last frost moving from May 2 (1901 to 1930) to April 26 (1991 to 2020), but an earlier spring just pulls bloom into weeks that still freeze.

Site comes first; the FAO's frost manual calls it "the single most important method of frost protection." Apricots, peaches and sweet cherries go on the highest, best-drained ground, apples and haskap lower. Our grower friend Bob Purvis says an east-facing slope is ideal, and Hall County's extension horticulturist warns against frost pockets and against south slopes, which push apricots into bloom early; that office says most growers get an apricot crop only every 4 to 5 years. Through bloom, mow short, don't till, and water a day or two before a frost. And don't panic over frosted bloom: only about 15 percent of apple blossoms need to set for a crop, most fruit that isn't clustered like cherries and grapes can lose half its blossoms with little effect, and open haskap flowers take 19°F.

What the weather records say

The coldest morning in these NOAA station records was February 12, 1899: −37°F at Ravenna, −34°F at Grand Island and −33°F at Minden, just past the southwest corner. Kearney 4 NE's record is −30°F (December 23, 1989), Hastings 4N's −30°F (January 12, 1912) and the Hastings airport's −30°F (February 16, 2021). The big outbreaks since include December 22, 1989 (Ravenna and Minden −31°F, Kearney 4 NE −30°F, Grand Island −26°F), February 16, 2021 (−26°F to −30°F at every station inside the map) and February 20, 2025 (Ravenna −27°F, Kearney 4 NE −26°F).

USDA's 2023 map puts Grand Island and Kearney in zone 5b (−15°F to −10°F) and Hastings in 6a (−10°F to −5°F), and southern Nebraska moved half a zone warmer than on the 2012 map. USDA's zones are built on the average of each winter's coldest night, and our typical winter of −10°F to −12°F lands right around them. Our planning low (−24°F to −25°F, zones 4a and 4b) is the bad night, and NOAA station records show the worst night in about 30 winters runs a median 13°F below a station's average winter low. Hail is a local hazard too; Hall County's 1890 history records major hailstorms in July 1878 and July 1884.

What you can grow here

Bloom separates places here more than the winter number does. Since every station on the map reached or passed its 30-year number in 2021, go a notch hardier wherever a tree is right at your number.

The warm ground, −23°F to −24°F: Hastings, Heartwell, Prosser, Prairie Center

• Apples: Empire (−35°F, occasionally nipped by late frost), Freedom (−35°F), Liberty (−30°F), Northern Spy (−30°F)
• Pears and plums: Bartlett (−35°F), D'Anjou (−30°F), Italian (−35°F), Stanley (−30°F)
• Cherries: Lapins (−35°F) and Gold (−35°F) on high ground, Montmorency (−30°F)
• Apricots and peaches: Harlayne (−30°F), Contender (−30°F), Siberian C (−35°F); Blushingstar (−25°F) by a south wall

The valley floor and the Tri Cities, −25°F to −27°F

• Apples: Haralson (−45°F), Honeycrisp (−45°F, watch for bitter pit), Zestar!® (−40°F, scab-prone), Lodi (−45°F), Enterprise (−30°F)
• Pears: Luscious (−40°F), Ure (−40°F), Summercrisp (−40°F)
• Plums: Toka (−45°F), Superior (−35°F), Alderman (−40°F)
• Cherries: Evan's Bali (−45°F), Meteor (−40°F); Lapins (−35°F) only on a rise
• Apricots: Westcot (−45°F) and Sungold (−40°F) on your highest ground, never the river bottoms

Ravenna, Pleasanton and the north valleys, −28°F to −29°F

• Apples and applecrabs: September Ruby (−55°F), Kindercrisp (−50°F), Kerr (−50°F), Trailman (−60°F); if you only plant one tree, make it Kerr or Trailman
• Pears and plums: Bolshaya (−50°F), Brookred (−50°F), Pipestone (−40°F)
• Cherries and apricots: Juliet (−50°F) and Romeo (−50°F) dwarf cherries, Debbie's Gold (−50°F) on the benches

Bush fruit fits anywhere and is the answer for the frost pockets: Honeyberry (−50°F), Montana Black Currant (−50°F), Red Lake currant (−40°F), Nanking Cherry (−50°F), Aronia Berry (−50°F) and Boyne raspberry (−40°F).

UNL's cultivar guide says pears shouldn't go on quince and peaches do better on seedling rootstock than on dwarfs. Roots are the weak link, so where wind strips the snow, use the hardiest stock you can get. Plant on a 4 to 8 percent grade if you have one (Montana State's recommendation), in 8 hours or more of sun, and test drainage first: dig 2 ft, fill, let drain, refill, and under 10 hours is well drained. The silty Hall and Cozad soils drain well; the basin clay pans don't. Use drip, and taper water from mid-August so trees harden off. Watch for cedar-apple rust and scab (Freedom, Liberty and Enterprise resist both), fire blight, which UNL flags on Wealthy and Jonathan, peach tree borer and peach leaf curl. Many apples and Superior plum need a pollenizer; our pollination maps show which trees pollenize which.

Fruit history here

Hall County's first fruit trees went in during spring 1863, and by the county's 1890 history the first cherries came in 1867, peaches in 1871, and apples and pears in 1872. Adin D. Tilley, whose two trees were the only ones for miles when he homesteaded in March 1873, went on to run a nursery with his sons and is credited with setting out nearly all the trees in and around Grand Island. A 1930 catalog from a Fairbury nursery, outside this map, sold Wealthy for its hardiness, Hansen's hybrid plums including Hanska, and Montmorency cherries, and said winters killed peach bloom buds often enough that a full crop came about one year in three. Wealthy, Hanska and Montmorency are still on our list. Today Apple Acres Orchard in Kearney grows Gala, Jonathan, Honeycrisp, Empire, Fuji and York among others, and Dobish Gardens and Orchard sells in Ravenna.

Questions people ask

What growing zone is Grand Island, Nebraska?

USDA's 2023 map puts Grand Island in zone 5b. Our map has it planning for −25°F, MFTC zone 4b (right on the 4a line), with a typical winter of −12°F. USDA's zone is based on an average winter, ours on the bad night we plan for.

What zone is Kearney, Nebraska?

USDA's 2023 map has Kearney in 5b. Our map plans for −25°F, MFTC zone 4a, with a typical winter of −12°F, and since Kearney 4 NE read −28°F in February 2021, trees rated −30°F or colder are the safe picks.

What zone is Hastings, Nebraska?

USDA's 2023 map puts Hastings in 6a. Our map has Hastings planning for −24°F, MFTC zone 4b, with a typical winter of −10°F. But the Hastings airport read −30°F on February 16, 2021, and north of town the map plans for −26°F.

When is the last frost in Grand Island?

NOAA station records for 1991 to 2020 put the median last 32°F frost at the Grand Island airport on April 28 and the last 28°F on April 15, and one year in ten the last 32°F comes May 11 or later. The median first fall frost is October 11, about 166 frost-free days.

Can you grow peaches in central Nebraska?

Yes, with the right tree. Contender (−30°F; 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) and Siberian C (−35°F) clear every planning low on this map. Commercial peach trees in Nebraska average about 8 years, so put them on seedling rootstock on your highest ground and expect frost to take some crops.

Can you grow apricots in Kearney?

The trees, yes: every apricot we sell is rated −30°F or colder, and Kearney plans for −25°F. The crop is the hard part, since apricots bloom before the average frost-free date and most growers get one only every 4 to 5 years. Plant them high, on Kearney's west-side slopes or toward Prairie Center (2°F to 3°F warmer than downtown at bloom), never on the river 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.