Fruit Trees for Lakeville, Farmington, Northfield and New Prague, Minnesota

On January 30, 1951, the NOAA station at Chaska, down on the Minnesota River floor at 720 feet, read −43°F. In the same cold snap Jordan read −37°F, Rosemount −35°F and Farmington, up at 960 feet, −33°F. That's 10°F lined up by elevation in country most people call flat, and it's why choosing fruit trees for Lakeville, Farmington, Northfield and New Prague is about the spot as much as the variety.

The map covers the south metro and the farm country past it: Lakeville, Apple Valley, Rosemount and Farmington in Dakota County, Prior Lake, Elko New Market and Jordan in Scott County, New Prague and Heidelberg to the southwest, Lonsdale and the Webster orchards in Rice County, and Northfield on the Cannon at the south edge. 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 bad winter night we'd plan a tree around. It leans cold on purpose: a safe number to plan for, not the record and not a promise of how often that night comes. The MFTC zone is that number in half zones, the typical winter is an average year's coldest night (the kind of number USDA's map is built on), and the spring layer shows how many degrees warmer or colder a spot runs than downtown Lakeville on a still, clear night at bloom.

The middle of the growing ground plans for −34°F, half of it between −33°F and −35°F. Lakeville, the reference town, plans for −36°F (MFTC 3a, typical winter −22°F), down with the coldest 5 percent. Wheatland, west of Lonsdale, is the coldest named place on the map at −37°F, with Trondjem, Northfield and Eureka Center just behind at −36°F. The warm end is the slope country north of Prior Lake, where Big Eagle's and Bluff View plan for −31°F (MFTC 3b, typical winter −18°F).

Why the map looks the way it does

Three glacial landscapes meet here. The west half is the Big Woods, a moraine of round, level-topped hills with broad flats between them full of closed depressions, lakes and peat bogs. Lakeville, Apple Valley, Rosemount and Farmington sit in hummocky moraine and the sandy outwash plains south of it, the Rosemount Outwash Plain among them. The northwest corner drops into the Minnesota River Valley, the trench Glacial River Warren cut about 250 feet deep, with its floor near 735 to 760 feet below Jordan. Cold air drains downhill much the way water does: north and west by Sand Creek and the Credit River to the Minnesota, east by the Vermillion to the Mississippi. A lot of the Big Woods barely drains, since many of its lakes have no inlet or outlet. A closed basin fills with cold air up to its lowest notch and then spills, so every bog hollow and lake flat out there makes and keeps its own pool.

The broad pattern, a colder middle from Lakeville down I-35 to Lonsdale and Northfield with milder ground toward Prior Lake, Rosemount and Heidelberg, lines up with the stations the number is built on. Of the four stations inside the map, the Airlake Airport station in Lakeville has the coldest 30-year number (−36°F), then Jordan (−35°F), the University of Minnesota's Rosemount Research and Outreach Center (−34°F) and the old Farmington station (−33°F). Lakeville's −36°F is about a degree colder than anything Airlake has recorded since 1995 (−35°F, in the 2008 to 2009 winter). It isn't the record, either: Rosemount hit −37°F in the February 2, 1996 cold snap.

Inside each part of the map, height above the nearest low ground sorts warm from cold, not height above sea level. Within 3 miles of Prior Lake the floor plans for a median −34°F and the benches for −30°F; around Lakeville it's −36°F and −33°F. On a clear, calm night the ground loses heat to the sky, cold air slides off the slopes and pools on the floor under milder air, and a slope stays warm only while the cold keeps moving past it. Over 69 clear, calm nights in Hungary, a valley floor averaged 6.7°F colder than a slope 230 feet higher. The Webster upland is some of the highest ground here, but Webster sits only 10 feet above its own floor and plans for −35°F, colder than Prior Lake at 948 feet.

The stations back this up, with a twist. Jordan's station, a mile south-southwest of town at 900 feet, runs a median 3°F colder than the old Farmington station (960 feet) in the year's coldest reading over 57 years. It holds the deepest readings inside the map, −41°F on January 19, 1970 and December 19, 1983, when Farmington read −35°F in the same cold snaps. We haven't found a published explanation, but it fits cold air draining down Sand Creek's valley to the Minnesota River floor. The twist: in the January 15, 1972 cold snap Farmington read −36°F and Jordan −31°F. Pooling is a clear, calm night pattern; windy arctic nights flatten or flip it, and the planning low folds both kinds together.

Water does little for winter here. Lake Marion is about 20 feet deep at most and Cedar Lake 13 feet, and a lake only shelters its shore while it's relatively free of ice. Town heat adds a little (the University of Minnesota's metro sensor network found suburbs running about 5.4°F warm in the strongest events), and the map gives built-up ground up to 2.5°F. The spring layer carries the fine terrain at full strength, so it spreads wider, from 9°F warmer than Lakeville at Bluff View to 4°F colder in Big Woods flats like Cedar Lake and Saint Benedict. In country this gentle a few tens of feet can make a thermal belt: a 1936 Michigan study found orchard ridges just 25 to 30 feet above the plain can be nearly as frost-free as high hills.

Lakeville, Lake Marion and Argonne

Lakeville is named for Lake Marion, the old Prairie Lake, and it straddles the divide, with Lake Marion draining to the Mississippi and Orchard Lake, a few miles northwest, to the Minnesota. Downtown, at 973 feet and only 20 feet above its floor, is the reference town: −36°F, MFTC 3a, typical winter −22°F. Within 3 miles the floor and the coldest tenth of the ground run −36°F and the benches and warmest tenth −33°F, so downtown sits on about the coldest ground around and the rises are worth 3°F.

The north side is better. Argonne, 3.7 miles north-northwest and named for Argonne Farms, a failed soldier resettlement farm after World War I, sits 80 feet above its floor at −33°F (MFTC 3b) and runs 5°F warmer than downtown at bloom. Orchard Garden, 2.2 miles farther north on an 8 percent hillside 100 feet up, plans for −31°F, and Nelson Hills Farm, 3.6 miles northeast on a 7 percent hillside, −32°F and 5°F warmer at bloom. On slopes like these, cold slides on past at night.

On the flat downtown, plant what has come through −40°F or colder: Haralson, Honeycrisp and Frostbite apples (−45°F), Zestar!® (−40°F), Chestnut applecrab (−50°F), Toka (−45°F) and Alderman (−40°F) plums, and Evan's Bali tart cherry (−45°F). Up at Argonne or Orchard Garden, Lapins sweet cherry, Superior plum and Montana Mango apricot (−35°F) have a few degrees to spare.

Farmington, Apple Valley and Rosemount

Farmington sits on the Vermillion at 904 feet, where North Creek comes in near downtown, with newer subdivisions north of downtown and out into Empire Township. It plans for −34°F (MFTC 3b, typical winter −20°F) and runs 1°F warmer than Lakeville at bloom. This is flat river country with hardly any bench ground within 3 miles: the floor runs −35°F, the warmest tenth −33°F. The old Farmington station (1893 to 2009) had the earliest median last spring frost of the three long-record stations inside the map, April 24. Castle Rock Orchard there grows Zestar, Honeycrisp, SnowSweet and Chestnut crab.

Apple Valley's name came from developer Orrin Thompson's hometown in California, not from orchards. Downtown sits in a shallow valley, and the map shows it: the Apple Valley point, 10 feet above its floor, plans for −34°F and runs 1°F warmer than Lakeville at bloom, Old Town a mile southwest plans for −34°F and runs 1°F colder, and Redwood, 0.7 miles north-northwest on an 8 percent toe slope, plans for −33°F and runs 5°F warmer. Rosemount, which gives its name to the sandy Rosemount Outwash Plain, plans for −33°F (typical winter −20°F), in the warmest tenth of the ground around it and 3°F warmer than Lakeville at bloom, while Meadows of Bloomfield, 1.2 miles east-northeast on its floor, plans for −35°F.

On the sandy outwash, use drip irrigation and take loamier ground where you can, since UMN warns against very sandy soils for apples and pears. Freedom and Macoun apples (−35°F) fit at the number on the floors, Seckel pear and Gold sweet cherry (−35°F) belong on rises like Redwood, and Snowsweet® (−45°F) and Prairie Spy (−40°F) are the sure things on the bottoms.

Northfield, Waterford and the Cannon

Northfield sits on the Cannon at 904 feet, with land rising east and west of the river. The Northfield point is right on the floor: −36°F (MFTC 3a, typical winter −22°F), 2°F colder than Lakeville at bloom and in the coldest tenth of the ground within 3 miles. Climb out of the river bottom either way and the benches plan for about −33°F. Waterford, 2 miles north-northeast, also plans for −36°F, but it sits on a 6 percent toe slope 30 feet above its floor and runs 4°F warmer than Lakeville at bloom. The winter number says what lives; the spring number says what crops. Castle Rock, 5.9 miles north, plans for −35°F and runs even.

On the river bottom, stick with Kindercrisp (−50°F), Sweet Sixteen and Cortland (−40°F) apples, Kerr applecrab (−50°F), Pipestone and Underwood plums (−40°F) with Toka, and Meteor tart cherry (−40°F). On the benches, Summercrisp pear (−40°F) belongs, and Triumph apple and Lapins (−35°F) fit with room. South of town, the Owatonna, Faribault and Northfield map covers you too.

Prior Lake, Spring Lake and Credit River

Prior Lake wraps around Upper and Lower Prior Lake, fed from Spring Lake, which spills north into Upper Prior. The Dakota name is Bdé Mayá Thó, Lake of the Blue Banks, and RiverSouth is the name for this country south of the Minnesota. The town point sits 50 feet above its floor and plans for −32°F (MFTC 3b, typical winter −19°F), 2°F warmer than Lakeville at bloom. It's the mildest corner of the map: within 3 miles the floor runs −34°F, the benches −30°F.

North of the lake, OpenStreetMap marks neighborhoods in the Shakopee Mdewakanton community, among the mildest named places on the map. Bluff View, on an 8 percent hillside 90 feet above its floor, plans for −31°F and runs 9°F warmer than Lakeville at bloom, the best spring reading of any named place; Big Eagle's, on a bench 110 feet up, plans for −31°F and runs 6°F warmer; Skape and Eagle Creek run 7°F warmer. Down on the shore, Grainwood, 10 feet above its floor, plans for −33°F and runs 3°F colder. The shore is the low ground those slopes drain to, and lakes do less for the last spring frost than the first fall one. Spring Lake, on bottom ground, plans for −35°F, Marystown, on a bench 100 feet up, −32°F, and Credit River −33°F.

These slopes are the place for early bloomers. Siberian C peach, Black Gold sweet cherry, Zard apricot and Superior plum (−35°F) have room to spare, and Contender peach, Rainier sweet cherry and Stanley plum (−30°F) are worth a try. Siberian C is the hardiest peach we think is out there, but it ripens very late, so give it your sunniest spot. North of the river, the Twin Cities map picks up.

Jordan and the Minnesota River bottoms

Jordan sits near the mouth of Sand Creek on the Minnesota River. The town point, at 773 feet and 40 feet above its floor, plans for −35°F, right on the line between MFTC 3a and 3b (typical winter −21°F), and runs 2°F colder than Lakeville at bloom. Within 3 miles the floor runs −35°F and the benches on the valley sides −33°F.

Around town are the lowest places on the map. Mudbaden (732 feet) plans for −35°F and runs 1°F colder at bloom, and Lawrence (754 feet) plans for −35°F and runs 2°F colder. The Louisville Swamp marsh near Jordan floods about three years in five, and low, wet, grassy ground like that is frost-prone. The winter map reads these bottoms about like the uplands because it takes the fine terrain at a quarter strength, but the floor's station record leans colder: Chaska, at 720 feet just northwest of the map, holds the deepest reading here (−43°F in 1951) and was coldest again in the January 18, 1967 cold snap at −35°F, though Jordan's station beat it in 1970 and 1983.

East Union, 4.5 miles northwest on a bench 120 feet above its floor, plans for −34°F and runs 7°F warmer at bloom. Elevation alone doesn't save a site, though: after the April 2012 frost the Wagner brothers' Jordan orchard had a very light crop even though Joe Wagner had counted on its high elevation for protection. On the bottoms, plant Wealthy apple, Centennial and Trailman applecrabs, FE tart cherry, Honeyberry and Montana Black Currant (all −45°F or colder). Ed Schultz saw zero winter injury on Centennial after a winter that hit −47°F. Keep pears and stone fruit on the valley sides.

New Prague, Heidelberg and Cedar Lake

New Prague was founded in the middle of the Big Woods. It's Bohemian Triangle country, split by Main Street between Scott and Le Sueur counties, with Sand Creek running north past town. The New Prague point sits 30 feet above its floor and plans for −34°F (MFTC 3b, typical winter −21°F), even with Lakeville at bloom. There's no bench ground within 3 miles, just the floor (−34°F) and low rises (warmest tenth −33°F). East Gate Estates, 1.1 miles east-northeast on a 7 percent toe slope, plans for −34°F but runs 4°F warmer at bloom.

In the hill-and-hollow country around it, small differences add up. Heidelberg, on an 8 percent toe slope at 1,052 feet, and Union Hill plan for −34°F and run 4°F warmer than Lakeville at bloom. Saint Benedict, on its floor 3.6 miles north-northwest, and the Cedar Lake settlement, on its floor 7.3 miles east-northeast, plan for −35°F (MFTC 3a) and run 4°F colder, the coldest spring readings of any named place on the map.

The Big Woods soils are loam to clay loam on calcareous till, so test pH (UMN wants 6 to 7 for apples) and drainage: dig 2 feet, fill it, let it drain, fill it again, and under 10 hours is well drained. On toe slopes like East Gate and Heidelberg, Italian plum and Bartlett pear (−35°F) fit at the number. In the hollows, plant apples and bush fruit: Haralson, Prairie Spy, Honeyberry, Red Lake currant and Boyne raspberry.

Elko New Market, Lonsdale and Webster

South along I-35 the land rises to some of the highest ground on the map, and to the orchard belt: Havlicek's Veseli Vrsek, Nelson's Apple Farm and Sweetland Orchard have Webster addresses, and Thompsons' Hillcrest is in Elko New Market. Elko New Market, where the Vermillion rises, sits on a toe slope 80 feet above its floor and plans for −33°F (MFTC 3b, typical winter −19°F), 2°F warmer than Lakeville at bloom, but the floor around it has the coldest median of any town on the map, −36°F. Eidswold, on a bench 100 feet up, plans for −33°F and runs 4°F warmer. Webster plans for −35°F (MFTC 3a), and Hazelwood, 70 feet up, plans for −35°F too but runs 4°F warmer at bloom.

Lonsdale sits 40 feet above its floor and plans for −34°F (typical winter −20°F), 2°F warmer than Lakeville at bloom, with the floor around it and the coldest tenth both at −36°F. Veseli, on a toe slope 60 feet up, plans for −34°F and runs 4°F warmer; Trondjem, on its floor 1.8 miles east, plans for −36°F and runs 2°F colder; and Wheatland, 10 feet above its floor, is the coldest named place on the map at −37°F. Put Westcot apricot (−45°F) and the plums on rises like Veseli and Eidswold, and keep the flats for apples like Wealthy and Haralson.

Spring frost and bloom in the south metro

NOAA station records for 1991 to 2020 put the median last 32°F at April 24 at the old Farmington station, April 30 at Rosemount and May 2 at Jordan, with the last 28°F 11 to 14 days earlier. One spring in ten the last 32°F came as late as May 12 at Farmington, May 14 at Rosemount and May 21 at Jordan. The first fall 32°F comes around October 5 or 6, for 149 frost-free days at Jordan and 155 to 156 at Farmington and Rosemount.

On a still, clear bloom night the best slopes north of Prior Lake, East Union and Marystown read 6°F to 9°F warmer than downtown Lakeville, while the Big Woods hollows read 4°F colder and the river floors at Jordan, Lawrence and Northfield 2°F colder. NC State's fruit people figure 3°F to 4°F can be the difference between no crop and a full one. In April 2012 an abnormally warm March pushed bloom weeks early and frost on the nights of April 9 and 10 caught it; a Star Tribune survey found south metro hilltop and bluff orchards came through better than low-lying ones. Sweetland lost 80 to 90 percent of its crop, Nelson's skipped pick-your-own for the first time in more than 30 years, and Applewood in Lakeville came in at about half, with Honeycrisp and Zestar relatively strong.

Site comes first. Put apricots, plums and sweet cherries on your highest ground and apples, haskap and bush fruit lower, and keep stone fruit off the south side of buildings (UMN Extension says the trapped heat pushes bloom early). Open blossoms start dying near 28°F (Michigan State's numbers), but only about 15 percent of apple blossoms need to set for a crop, and Honeyberry flowers take 19°F wide open. Through bloom, mow under 2 inches, don't till, water a day or two before a frost, and open the outlet: a hedge or fence across the low side of a planting backs cold air up into the trees above it.

What the weather records say

Chaska's −43°F (January 30, 1951) is the deepest reading in NOAA station records here. Inside the map Jordan holds −41°F (1970 and 1983), the old Farmington station −40°F (1899 and 1935) and Rosemount −38°F (1977). Since 1995 the worst was the cold snap of February 2, 1996, with Rosemount and Chaska at −37°F, Jordan and Chanhassen −35°F and Farmington −33°F. Minnesota's best apple survivors of that winter (Rescue, Dolgo, Chestnut and Centennial) came from plots that saw −50°F to −55°F, a 1998 report found.

Since 1995 the stations still reporting have averaged about −21°F for a winter's coldest night, and the middle of the map plans about 13°F colder, right at the median gap NOAA station records show. USDA's 2023 map puts Minneapolis in 5a. Its zones come from an average winter, so our typical winter here, −18°F to −23°F, lands in USDA's 4b and 5a bands, while our planning low puts the map in MFTC 3a and 3b.

What you can grow here

The warm slopes and the north edge, −31°F to −33°F (Bluff View, Big Eagle's, Orchard Garden, Prior Lake, Marystown, Rosemount, Argonne, Elko New Market). Everything below, plus the −35°F trees with room: Lapins and Gold sweet cherries, Superior plum, Red d'Anjou pear, Zard apricot, Siberian C peach, Danube tart cherry, and Frontenac and Marquette grapes. Contender peach, Stella sweet cherry, Stanley plum and Liberty apple (−30°F) are worth a try.

The middle ground, −34°F to −35°F (New Prague, Farmington, Apple Valley, Lonsdale, Heidelberg, Jordan, Spring Lake, Webster, Cedar Lake). Most of the map. The −40°F trees carry it: Cortland, Prairie Spy, Golden Russet and Northwest Greening apples; Summercrisp, Cold Snap® and Ure pears; Alderman, Black Ice, La Crescent and Mount Royal plums with Toka; Meteor tart cherry; Sungold apricot on the rises; Trader mulberry. The −35°F trees fit right at the number, best on toe slopes.

Lakeville, Northfield and the cold flats, −36°F to −37°F (Lakeville, Northfield, Eureka Center, Waterford, Trondjem, Wheatland). Lean on the −45°F and colder trees: Haralson, Honeycrisp, Frostbite, Snowsweet®, Wealthy and Kindercrisp apples; Chestnut, Kerr, Centennial and Trailman applecrabs; Bolshaya pear on a rise; Toka and Brookred plums; Evan's Bali tart cherry; Westcot and Debbie's Gold apricots up off the floor; Honeyberry, Montana Black Currant, Romeo dwarf cherry and Valiant grape. If you only plant one tree on a cold flat, make it Kerr or Trailman.

Roots are the weak link, and snow keeps them alive: at Ed Schultz's farm in Gallatin Gateway, Montana, Bud 118 apple rootstock has seen near −50°F under snow with no rootstock damage. UMN's older guidance has dwarfing roots injured at 18°F to 22°F in the root zone, so mulch 6 to 8 inches deep in low-snow winters and where snow blows off. With the first fall frost around October 5, taper water from mid-August so trees harden off; almost all of our own young Bing cherries died when the Missoula airport dropped to −7°F almost overnight on October 25, 2020, before they'd gone dormant. Guard trunks against rabbits, voles and sunscald (white guards in November), fence the deer out, and watch for fire blight and black knot. Our pollination maps show what pairs with what, and the cold hardiness calculator sorts everything we sell by the coldest temperature it has come through.

Fruit history here

Orchard Lake and the Orchard Garden place name sound like old orchard country, but we haven't found the story behind either. Most orchards here are a generation or two old: Nelson's Apple Farm has been a family farm since 1974, and Sweetland, once Bob's Bluebird Orchard, made its first hard cider from the 2011 crop. Sweetland's list runs through Minnesota apple history: Wealthy, which it calls Minnesota's first apple variety, Northwestern Greening (1872), Haralson (early 1920s), Prairie Spy (1940), Centennial crab (1957), Honeycrisp (1991) and Zestar (1999).

Questions people ask

What hardiness zone is Lakeville, MN?

On the bad night we plan for, downtown Lakeville is −36°F, MFTC 3a, with a typical winter of −22°F, which falls in the 4b band of USDA's scale (−25°F to −20°F). USDA's 2023 map puts Minneapolis in 5a, and its zones come from an average winter. Rises like Argonne plan for −33°F, MFTC 3b.

When is the last frost in Lakeville and Farmington?

NOAA station records for 1991 to 2020 put the median last 32°F frost at April 24 at the old Farmington station and April 30 at Rosemount. One spring in ten it came as late as May 12 to May 14. Jordan runs later: May 2, and May 21 in a late year.

Why does Jordan run colder than Farmington?

Jordan's NOAA station runs a median 3°F colder than Farmington's in the year's coldest reading and gets its last spring frost about a week later. We haven't found a published explanation; it fits cold air draining down Sand Creek's valley to the Minnesota River floor. On our map Jordan plans for −35°F and runs 2°F colder than Lakeville at bloom.

Can you grow peaches around Lakeville and Prior Lake?

UMN Extension says peaches like Contender belong only in southern Minnesota or a mild microclimate, and Twin Cities growers get a moderate crop about every other year. Siberian C (−35°F) clears most of this map and is worth a try at Lakeville's −36°F; Contender (−30°F) is worth a try on the warm slopes around Prior Lake. Give peaches your highest ground.

What fruit trees grow in New Prague and Northfield?

New Prague plans for −34°F and Northfield's river-bottom center for −36°F, so for a sure thing plant what has come through −40°F or colder: Haralson, Honeycrisp and Zestar!® apples, Chestnut applecrab, Luscious pear on a rise, Toka plum and Evan's Bali tart cherry. In New Prague, Lapins sweet cherry and Superior plum (−35°F) fit at the number.

Do plum trees need a pollenizer in Minnesota?

The hybrid plums do. UMN Extension's most recommended pollenizer is Toka, within about 100 yards, and Toka has come through −45°F, so it fits anywhere on this map. For apples, UMN says a crabapple within about 100 feet can be the pollenizer.

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.