Fruit Trees for New York

These are the cold hardy fruit trees, berries and vines that grow in New York, picked against real winter lows, not an average. Across the 11 areas we've mapped in New York, the cold to plan for runs from −16°F on the warmest ground around Oswego, Fulton and the Lake Ontario shore to −41°F in the cold pockets around Canton, Potsdam and New York's North Country. Pick your area below and the list trims itself to what has come through that cold. Everything here ships bare root in spring 2027.

What fruit trees grow in New York?

The best fruit trees for New York are the ones that have already lived through the cold your spot gets. On typical New York ground (−28°F, the middle of our mapped areas), 239 of the plants we're selling for spring 2027 have come through that cold: apples like Honeycrisp, Prairie Sensation, Frostbite and Haralson; pears like Larinskaya, Krazulya and Bartlett; plums like Italian, Tipson and Native American plum; tart and bush cherries like Montmorency, Romeo and Juliet; apricots like Westcot and Manchurian. Berry bushes are the safest bet anywhere in the state.

Peaches are a stretch on most of the ground we've mapped in New York. Siberian C peach has come through −35°F, so it's worth a try on the warmest ground in Oswego, Fulton and the Lake Ontario shore; Hornell, Bath and the Canisteo; and Ithaca, Cortland and the south end of Cayuga Lake. It ripens late, so give it your sunniest spot. Plant them up on a bench or slope, never the low spot.

For your exact address, the cold hardiness calculator gives you the number to plan for and every plant we grow that has survived it.

New York growing zones for fruit trees

Most of the ground we've mapped in New York falls in MFTC zones 3 and 4, with the warmest spots in zone 5a (−16°F) and the coldest bottoms down in zone 2b (−41°F). That's colder than USDA's map, and it's on purpose: USDA's zone comes from an average winter's coldest night, ours from the bad winter a tree has to live through. Every plant we sell is zoned to the coldest temperature it has actually survived. Here's each area we've mapped, with the planning low for most of its ground and the range from its warmest benches to its coldest bottoms.

Shopping by zone instead? Start with our zone 2 fruit trees, zone 3 fruit trees, zone 4 fruit trees and zone 5 fruit trees. A few spots on each map run a zone colder than the town next door, and that's what the maps are for.

Canton, Potsdam and New York's North Country. On January 15, 1957, the Massena airport read −44°F while the station outside Ogdensburg read −28°F.

Oswego, Fulton and the Lake Ontario shore. In the January 2014 cold snap, NOAA's Pulaski station hit −27°F while Oswego, 23 miles down the same Lake Ontario shore, read −5°F. Around Oswego and Fulton, where you plant decides which winter your trees get.

See every New York map on our New York microclimate maps page.

Native fruit we grow

If you're after native fruit, huckleberry, Native American plum, American elderberry, Montana black currant and serviceberry are the ones we grow. They feed birds and wildlife and shrug off cold that would kill a lot of grafted trees.

Getting fruit trees to make it in New York

Cold is only part of it. Plant on a slope or bench, not the bottom of a draw, since cold air drains downhill and pools in the low spots on a still night, and that's where blossoms get frosted. Give trees shelter from the wind, put them on drip so the soil never dries out through the summer, then taper it off from mid August so they harden off before the first hard freeze. Paint the trunks white against sunscald (how we do it) and put a quarter inch hardware cloth guard, at least two feet tall, around each trunk for voles and ground squirrels.

Rootstock matters as much as the variety. In the coldest ground we graft onto hardy standard rootstocks, and our rootstock guide explains the tradeoffs. Most apples, pears, plums and sweet cherries need a second variety blooming at the same time to pollenize them; our pollination maps show which ones pair up. Short on room for two? Lapins sweet cherry, Contender peach and Westcot apricot are self fertile, and so is everything in our self fertile fruit trees collection.

Ordering bare root trees for New York

Everything on this page ships bare root in spring 2027, dormant, with the roots wrapped in moist sawdust and a vapor barrier, so you can plant as soon as your ground can be worked. Put your order in over the winter, since the best sellers run out. Not sure what to pick? Fill out our We Pick Your Trees form and we'll put a list together for your spot, or email us through the contact page with where you are and what you want to grow. Every plant is guaranteed to bud out (details in our FAQ).

Questions people ask about fruit trees in New York

Can you grow fruit trees in New York?

Yes. The trick is picking varieties zoned to the cold your spot actually gets. Our maps put most of the New York ground we've mapped at −28°F for planning, and 239 of the plants we're selling for spring 2027 have come through that, from hardy apples and pears to plums, tart cherries and berries.

What are the best apple trees for New York?

For most of the New York ground we've mapped we'd start with Honeycrisp, Prairie Sensation, Frostbite, Haralson and Zestar!®. Each has come through −28°F or colder. In the coldest pockets, around Canton, Potsdam and New York's North Country (−41°F), Honeycrisp, Prairie Sensation, Frostbite and Haralson still clear it; the others want better ground.

What growing zone is New York for fruit trees?

Most of the ground we've mapped in New York is MFTC zones 3 to 4, running from −16°F on the warmest ground around Oswego, Fulton and the Lake Ontario shore down to −41°F around Canton, Potsdam and New York's North Country. USDA's map reads warmer because it's built on an average winter, not the bad one.

Can cherry trees grow in New York?

Tart and bush cherries, yes: Montmorency tart cherry, Romeo dwarf cherry and Juliet dwarf cherry all fit most of the New York ground we've mapped. Sweet cherries can too. Lapins sweet cherry, one of the hardiest we sell, has come through −35°F, colder than most ground here plans for. Plant it up on a slope, since bloom frost is the bigger risk.

Can you grow peaches in New York?

On the warmest ground, yes. Siberian C peach has come through −35°F, so it's worth a try on the warmest ground in Oswego, Fulton and the Lake Ontario shore; Hornell, Bath and the Canisteo; and Ithaca, Cortland and the south end of Cayuga Lake. It ripens late, so give it your sunniest spot.

Where is the warmest ground for fruit trees in New York?

On our maps the warmest growing ground is SUNY Oswego campus in Oswego, Fulton and the Lake Ontario shore (−16°F), then Sharps Hill in Hornell, Bath and the Canisteo (−20°F) and Hammond Hill in Ithaca, Cortland and the south end of Cayuga Lake (−20°F). Those numbers are the planning lows, the cold a tree there has to live through in a bad winter.

Where are the coldest frost pockets in New York?

The coldest spots on our New York maps are Elmdale in Canton, Potsdam and New York's North Country (−41°F), Upper St. Regis in Lake Placid, Saranac Lake and the Adirondacks (−41°F), and Dexter in Watertown and the Tug Hill edge (−38°F). Low ground like that is where cold air pools on a still night, so it runs colder than the town nearby.

What's the coldest temperature on New York's microclimate maps?

The coldest reading on our New York maps is −47°F at Philadelphia on December 29, 1933, on the Watertown and the Tug Hill edge map.

When is the last frost in New York?

It depends a lot on where you are. On the maps that give a typical last 32°F spring frost, it runs from April 24 at Oswego (Oswego, Fulton and the Lake Ontario shore) to June 2 at the Lake Placid station (Lake Placid, Saranac Lake and the Adirondacks). Open the map for your area to see the station closest to you.

How long is the growing season in New York?

Our maps put the frost free season anywhere from about 106 days at the Lake Placid station (Lake Placid, Saranac Lake and the Adirondacks) to about 183 days at Oswego (Oswego, Fulton and the Lake Ontario shore). That's why the area you're in matters as much as the state.

When should I plant fruit trees in New York?

In spring, as soon as the ground thaws and can be worked, while the trees are still dormant. We ship bare root in spring 2027 so the trees arrive dormant and ready to go in the ground.

Do you ship bare root fruit trees to New York?

Yes. We ship bare root trees, berries and vines to New York every spring, and you can also pick up in Missoula, Montana, if you choose that at checkout.

Fruit trees for other states

Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming. Or start from the fruit trees by state page.