Fruit Trees for Northampton, Amherst, Greenfield and the Pioneer Valley, Massachusetts

On January 19, 1971, the Amherst weather station, down on the valley floor at 145 feet, read −29°F. Springfield, about 22 miles south, read −3°F. On January 11, 1968, Amherst hit −25°F while Belchertown, 405 feet higher on the east side of the valley, sat at −15°F. That's the first thing to know about fruit trees for Northampton, Amherst, Greenfield and the Pioneer Valley: where the cold air settles matters more than which town you're in.

This map covers the Connecticut River valley in Western Mass from Chicopee, Holyoke and Ludlow north through Easthampton, Northampton, Amherst and Belchertown to Deerfield, Greenfield, Turners Falls and Bernardston at the Vermont line, plus the hill towns on both sides. 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 for, not the record. 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. The spring layer shows how many degrees warmer or colder a spot runs than downtown Northampton on a still, clear night at bloom.

Downtown Northampton plans for −21°F, MFTC zone 4b, with a typical winter of −7°F. The middle of the valley's growing ground plans for −22°F, and half of it falls between −23°F and −20°F. The warm end is benches 100 to 300 feet above the floor: Cheapside in Greenfield (−17°F), Amherst Center and the Cold Spring hamlet in Belchertown (−18°F), all zone 5a. The cold end is the bottoms: Indian Orchard, Erving and Wendell Depot plan for −26°F, zone 4a. The spring layer spreads much wider, from 9°F colder than Northampton at East Farms to 12°F warmer on the Shutesbury hillside.

Why the map looks the way it does

The Connecticut comes in from Vermont at about 190 feet, winds down the long meadow stretch past Sunderland and Hadley, slips through the gap between the Mount Tom Range and the Holyoke Range, and drops over South Hadley Falls to about 70 feet at Springdale and Willimansett, the lowest ground on the map. Most of the floor is the flat, nearly rockless silt bed of glacial Lake Hitchcock, with Mount Tom, Mount Toby and hills past 1,000 feet on both sides. On a clear, calm night cold air slides off all of it and settles on that old lake bed.

Above the floor sits the thermal belt, the band of slope that stays mildest on still nights. Within 3 miles of nearly every town the benches 100 to 700 feet up plan for 2°F to 4°F warmer than the floor: −18°F against −22°F around Hadley, −21°F against −25°F around Holyoke. Height above your own floor beats height above the sea. Belchertown center, 250 feet above its floor at 600 feet, plans for −19°F, while South Wendell, at 928 feet but only 50 feet above its hollow, plans for −26°F. A Hungarian study of 69 clear, calm nights found a valley floor averaged 6.7°F colder than a slope 230 feet higher.

The Holyoke Range runs east to west, which is unusual for this region, straight across the valley from the river to Belchertown. Cold air pooled on the Hadley and Amherst floor can leave only through the river's gap or over the Notch on Route 116, and a pool fills to its lowest outlet before it spills. The Amherst station, on that floor since 1893, hit −30°F on January 22, 1961, when Westover Field in Chicopee read −22°F and Springfield −11°F. Since 1995, though, the Westover station, at 246 feet on the plain below the falls, has the coldest 30-year number in the valley, −25°F to Amherst's −22°F, and the low ground around it, from Willimansett east to Indian Orchard and Ludlow, plans for −24°F to −26°F.

The north end gets the deepest arctic cold most often: Vernon, just over the Vermont line, was the coldest station in seven of the ten big outbreaks from 1933 to 1971, and on February 18, 1958 it read −33°F to Amherst's −12°F. Some nights the pattern flips. On February 15, 2016, six stations read between −12°F and −16°F, and the warmest was Amherst, on the floor; the coldest was the Orange airport at 544 feet. The floor-and-bench split is a clear, calm night pattern, and wind or cloud flattens it or turns it over.

Water does little here. A river bottom is still low ground. Quabbin, just east of Belchertown, froze over completely in 25 of 27 winters from 1970 to 1996 and 9 of 27 since; a lake only shelters its shore while it's open. Towns help some. The map credits built-up ground with up to 2.5°F, part of why Amherst Center, 160 feet above the floor, plans 4°F warmer than its own station's 30-year number. Snow helps roots: Greenfield averages about 53 inches a year and Amherst about 36 and a half, and that blanket insulates the soil, even though the air above it runs colder.

The spring layer is the same drainage at full strength. Hadley's meadows, open fields still farmed in their 17th-century layout, read 3°F colder than Northampton on a still bloom night, and Sunderland 4°F colder. Draws and the low ground at the foot of the slopes run colder still, East Farms 9°F colder. State natural-community fact sheets describe frost-pocket hollows on inland sand plains and list the Montague Plains as one of the sites. Up on the benches it turns around: Mountain Park in Holyoke reads 10°F warmer than Northampton. NC State's fruit people note that 3°F to 4°F can be the difference between no crop and a full one.

Northampton, Florence and Leeds

Northampton, the Meadow City (Hamp or Noho, if you live there), sits on the west bank, with the Mill River coming down through Leeds and Florence. Downtown, a toe slope 40 feet above the meadows, is our reference: −21°F, zone 4b, typical winter −7°F. Within 3 miles the floor plans for −23°F and the benches −20°F. Fort Hill plans for −22°F. Pine Grove, on a hillside southwest of downtown 170 feet above the floor, plans for −20°F, zone 5a, and reads 7°F warmer at bloom, and the Pathways and Rocky Hill cohousing neighborhoods, 160 to 170 feet up, plan for −19°F. West Farms, on a flat west of town, plans for −21°F but reads 6°F colder at bloom. Florence, on a terrace 120 feet up, plans for −21°F and reads 2°F warmer. Leeds sits in the draw where the Mill River leaves the hills, a chute for cold air at night: −22°F and 1°F colder.

Downtown lots and Pine Grove can carry Contender (−30°F) and Blushingstar (−25°F) peaches and Harlayne apricots (−30°F), and Trader Mulberry (−40°F) fits anywhere in the city. In Leeds and West Farms, lean on Macoun (−35°F) and Cortland (−40°F) apples and Bartlett pears (−35°F).

Easthampton, Southampton and the west side of Mount Tom

Easthampton sits on the floor west of Mount Tom and Mount Nonotuck, with the Manhan River crossing north of the center. Downtown plans for −22°F, typical winter −8°F, and reads 4°F warmer than Northampton at bloom; within 3 miles the floor plans for −23°F and the benches −20°F. Hampton Ponds, in a draw, plans for −22°F and reads 6°F colder, and East Farms, about 2 and a half miles west of it, 9°F colder, the coldest bloom-night reading of any named place on the map. Up the slopes, Swanson Corners plans for −20°F and Owen District, on the hillside south of Hampton Ponds, −18°F, both zone 5a and 7°F to 9°F warmer at bloom. Park Hill Orchard, on Mount Tom's west side, lost about 40 percent of its peaches in January 2025 when hard cold killed the buds at the bottom of a hill and spared the hilltop. In Southampton (−22°F), a vineyard that fell to about 28°F on May 18, 2023 burned 124 hay-bale fires and still lost about 40 percent of its Itasca crop.

Owen District and Swanson Corners suit Glohaven (−25°F) and Siberian C (−35°F) peaches and Tomcot apricots (−30°F). Around Hampton Ponds and East Farms, plant Honeycrisp (−45°F), D'Anjou pears (−30°F) and Honeyberry (−50°F), the haskap, whose open flowers take 19°F.

Holyoke, Chicopee and South Hadley

Holyoke is built on terraces between the Mount Tom Range and the river, cut by wooded ravines the city calls dingles. The terraces are thermal belt, and the dingles carry cold down to the river. Holyoke Center plans for −23°F, typical winter −9°F, with the floor at −25°F and the benches at −21°F within 3 miles. Highlands and Oakdale plan for −21°F, and Mountain Park, 270 feet up, −20°F, zone 5a, reading 10°F warmer than Northampton at bloom; Elmwood, Highland Park and Ingleside read 7°F to 8°F warmer. Springdale, by the river, plans for −24°F and reads 5°F colder. The Flats, the canal and mill district, plans for −25°F but reads 5°F warmer at bloom, the built-up blocks holding heat on a still night. Across the river, Willimansett plans for −24°F, South Hadley Falls −25°F and 6°F colder at bloom, and Chicopee Falls and Fairview −24°F, while Aldenville, on a terrace 150 feet up, plans for −21°F. South Hadley Center, on its bench by the Village Commons 110 feet up, plans for −22°F and reads 7°F warmer than Northampton at bloom, and the Woodbridge Street district −21°F and 8°F warmer.

On the terraces and South Hadley's bench, plant Contender peaches, Lapins (−35°F) and Rainier (−30°F) sweet cherries and Italian plums (−35°F). On the river flats, plant for −25°F: Haralson apples (−45°F), Summercrisp pears (−40°F), Meteor tart cherries (−40°F), and Superior plums (−35°F) with Toka (−45°F) as the pollenizer (our pollination maps show the pairings).

Ludlow, Granby and Belchertown

East of Chicopee the floor runs toward Ludlow and Wilbraham, some of the coldest winter ground here. Ludlow plans for −24°F, typical winter −9°F, with the benches at −21°F within 3 miles; Fiberloid and Cadys Corners plan for −25°F and Indian Orchard −26°F, zone 4a. East Wilbraham, on the hillside 140 feet up, plans for −22°F and reads 9°F warmer than Northampton at bloom. Granby plans for −22°F, and Aldrich Mills, in a draw south of the Holyoke Range, reads 7°F colder at bloom. Belchertown center sits on a broad bench at 600 feet, 250 feet above its floor: −19°F, zone 5a, 9°F warmer at bloom, with the floor at −23°F within 3 miles. Its NOAA station averages −7°F for its coldest night of the year, 5°F milder than Amherst. The town was first called Cold Spring, and the Cold Spring hamlet southeast of the center plans for −18°F; UMass's Cold Spring Orchard sits against a hillside just outside town. Pine Valley Plantation, on a river bottom south of the center, reads 6°F colder at bloom.

Belchertown's bench takes Harlayne and Goldrich apricots (−30°F), Siberian C peaches and Stella cherries (−30°F), and Bing (−20°F) clears its number. Ludlow and Indian Orchard want Wolf River apples (−45°F), Zestar!® (−40°F), Ure pears (−40°F) and Evan's Bali tart cherries (−45°F).

Amherst, Hadley and Hatfield

North of the Holyoke Range the floor opens into Hadley's meadows on dark Hadley loam, with Hatfield across the river and Amherst, the heart of the Five College area, on the rise to the east. Hadley Center plans for −22°F, typical winter −8°F, and reads 3°F colder than Northampton at bloom; within 3 miles the floor plans for −22°F and the benches −18°F. North Hadley reads 5°F colder. Hatfield, on the river bottom where the Mill River comes in, plans for −22°F and reads 3°F colder, and Bradstreet and West Hatfield 4°F colder. Black Birch Vineyard in Hatfield lost about 70 percent of its crop on May 18, 2023. Amherst Center, on a bench 160 feet above the floor with the town around it, plans for −18°F, zone 5a, the warmest town center on the map, with a typical winter of −4°F, and reads 7°F warmer at bloom. North and East Amherst plan for −22°F, Pomeroy Village −23°F, and Mill Valley, on the low ground south of the center, reads 7°F colder at bloom. Atkins Farms has grown apples against the Holyoke Range for over 100 years, and Atkins Corner, at the foot of the range, plans for −21°F and reads 3°F warmer.

Amherst Center can carry Redstar peaches (−25°F), Skeena and Rainier cherries and Shiro plums (−30°F), and Bing and St. Edmund's Pippin (−20°F) clear its number. On the meadows, plant Red McIntosh (−40°F), Macoun and Empire (−35°F) apples, Summercrisp pears and Montmorency tart cherries (−30°F), and keep apricots and peaches off the flat.

Sunderland, Whately and Deerfield

North of Hatfield the river runs 19 miles with one road crossing, the Sunderland Bridge, between Mount Toby and Mount Sugarloaf. Sunderland, mostly on the flats near the river, plans for −24°F, typical winter −10°F, and reads 4°F colder than Northampton at bloom; within 3 miles the floor plans for −23°F and the benches −20°F. Whately's center, on a bench 140 feet up, plans for −20°F and reads 8°F warmer, while East Whately, on the flats, reads 3°F colder. Sobieski's River Valley Farm in Whately lost 75 to 80 percent of its blueberries on May 18, 2023. In Deerfield, Old Deerfield and South Deerfield plan for −21°F and read 1°F and 2°F colder at bloom, and Wapping, on the flats between them, −22°F and 3°F colder. West Deerfield, on a steep hillside 150 feet up, plans for −20°F and reads 10°F warmer; the Bardwell draw to the west reads 8°F colder. Clarkdale Fruit Farms has grown fruit on Upper Road since about 1914, and Ben Clark says growers put peaches on the highest ground for air drainage and sun.

The West Deerfield and Whately benches suit Glowingstar (−25°F) and Contender peaches, Harlayne apricots and Black Gold sweet cherries (−35°F). On Sunderland's flats, plant Liberty (−30°F) and Golden Russet (−40°F) apples, Seckel pears (−35°F) and Honeyberry.

Greenfield, Turners Falls and the north end

Greenfield sits where the Green, Deerfield and Connecticut rivers meet, its center on a raised point above them. The center, on a terrace 100 feet above the floor, plans for −19°F, zone 5a, typical winter −5°F, and reads 6°F warmer than Northampton at bloom; within 3 miles the floor plans for −22°F and the benches −19°F. Cheapside, on a steep hillside south of the center, plans for −17°F and reads 10°F warmer. Across the river, Turners Falls plans for −21°F and reads 3°F warmer, while Montague City on the river bottom and Millers Falls, where the Millers River comes in, read 5°F colder, and Lake Pleasant 6°F colder. East of Millers Falls, Erving and Wendell Depot sit on the valley bottom at about 475 feet and plan for −26°F, zone 4a. Up past the French King gorge, Northfield's center, on a terrace 100 feet up, plans for −24°F with the floor at −25°F, and Munns Ferry, by the river, −25°F, zone 4a. Mount Hermon, 230 feet up the hillside, plans for −20°F and reads 9°F warmer. Bernardston plans for −23°F.

Greenfield's center and Cheapside take the full peach list, and Bing clears both. Around Northfield and Erving, plant for −24°F to −26°F: Kerr and Chestnut applecrabs (−50°F), Luscious pears (−40°F), Black Ice and Mount Royal plums (−40°F) and Montana Black Currant (−50°F).

The hill towns, east and west

In the hill towns, height above your own hollow is everything. Pelham, 560 feet above its floor at 1,137 feet, plans for −20°F, zone 5a, and reads 11°F warmer than Northampton at bloom; Shutesbury, also 560 feet up, plans for −21°F and reads 12°F warmer. But the floors within 3 miles of both plan for −25°F, and South Wendell's hollow −26°F. The Leverett No. 2 station plans for −24°F, though in its 10 years on file it hasn't gone below −19°F. On the west side the Deerfield drops nearly 1,100 feet in 50 miles, and a valley that keeps falling keeps draining, while a wide, flat basin like the old lake bed pools harder; within 3 miles of Shelburne Falls the floor plans for −21°F. Shelburne Falls, at the glacial potholes, plans for −21°F and reads 1°F colder at bloom, and Shelburne Center, up the hill, −19°F and 7°F warmer. Apex Orchards sits on a 950-foot hilltop near the Mohawk Trail and still lost its lower block, about a third of its apples, on May 18, 2023. Creek bottoms like Buckland, Colrain and Griswoldville plan for −21°F but read 5°F to 8°F colder at bloom, and Williamsburg, on the Mill River, plans for −23°F and reads 5°F colder.

The high benches suit Tomcot apricots, Stella and Lapins cherries and Contender peaches; the creek bottoms want apples, pears, haskap and currants. Over the hills toward Pittsfield, our Berkshires map covers you, and farther up the Connecticut our Upper Valley map covers Hanover and Lebanon.

Spring frost and bloom in the Pioneer Valley

NOAA station records for 1991 to 2020 put the median last 32°F frost on May 4 at Greenfield No. 3, May 8 at the Westfield-Barnes airport, May 10 at Amherst and May 13 at the Orange airport, just east of the map. The last 28°F comes April 20 at Greenfield and Westfield and April 25 at Amherst, and one spring in ten the last 32°F comes May 22 or later at Amherst. Frost-free seasons run 149 to 159 days, longest at Greenfield No. 3 even though it's the lowest of those stations at 130 feet.

May 18, 2023 is the lesson. McIntosh at the UMass orchard in Belchertown bloomed a little early, May 2 to 3, and then a frost took the valley into the mid to upper 20s°F. Apples up on the hill came through largely unscathed, while the flats lost anywhere from a little to nearly everything. UMass Extension's Jon Clements said the low-lying areas took more damage because cold air sinks, and that a couple of degrees makes a big difference. The state's apple crop came in about 25 percent short, and fire blight broke out afterward.

Open blossoms of nearly every tree fruit start dying near 28°F (Michigan State's figures), but only about 15 percent of apple blossoms need to set for a crop, and haskap flowers take 19°F wide open. So put apricots, peaches and sweet cherries where the spring layer reads warmer than Northampton, and give the colder floors and draws apples, pears, haskap and currants. Through bloom, mow short, don't till, water a day or two before a frost night, and open up any hedge or tree line damming cold air below your trees. None of that helps much in a windy freeze.

What the weather records say

The coldest readings on file inside the map, by NOAA station records, are −40°F at the old Ludlow Center station (1890 to 1905) on January 5, 1904, and −30°F at Amherst (January 22, 1961) and Turners Falls (February 16, 1943). Vernon, just outside, hit −34°F in that 1943 cold wave. Since 1995 the coldest at Amherst is −18°F against a planning low of −22°F, and Westfield-Barnes has bottomed out at −14°F against −20°F.

Timing has done more damage lately than depth. After the warmest January on record in Massachusetts, it hit −13°F at the UMass orchard on February 4, 2023, and most stone fruit flower buds died; there was no Massachusetts peach crop that year, and Pine Hill Orchards in Colrain lost all its peaches and about half its apples to the 2023 freezes. Fruit trees lose hardiness over a few warm days and win it back only a little with each cold day.

Zone guides put the valley towns anywhere from USDA 5b to 6b on the 2023 map. USDA's map is built on an average winter's coldest night; ours is built on the bad night we plan for, so MFTC zones read a full zone or more colder: 4b across most of the valley, 5a on the warm benches, 4a in the coldest bottoms.

What you can grow here

Our ratings are each plant's coldest known survival, so compare them straight to your number. For this corner of Western Mass it sorts out like this.

Benches, hillsides and town centers, −21°F or warmer (Amherst Center, Greenfield, Belchertown center, downtown Northampton, Pine Grove, Holyoke's upper terraces, West Deerfield, Pelham): Contender, Siberian C and Blushingstar peaches, Hardired nectarines (−25°F), Harlayne and Tomcot apricots, Rainier, Stella and Lapins sweet cherries, Stanley (−30°F) and Italian plums, D'Anjou pears, and Baldwin (−25°F), the old Massachusetts keeper, with Cox Orange Pippin (−30°F). Bing (−20°F) fits spots at −20°F or warmer and is worth a try on a south wall at −21°F.

The valley floor, −22°F to −24°F (the Hadley, Hatfield and Sunderland meadows, South Hadley, Granby, Holyoke Center, Willimansett, Ludlow, Bernardston, Northfield): Honeycrisp, Cortland, Liberty and Northern Spy (−30°F) apples, Bartlett and Seckel pears, Superior plums with Toka, Montmorency tart cherries, Lapins on your highest corner, Marquette and Itasca grapes (−35°F), Red Lake currants (−40°F) and Boyne raspberries (−40°F).

The cold bottoms, −25°F to −26°F (Indian Orchard, South Hadley Falls, Erving, Wendell Depot, Munns Ferry, the hollows around Pelham, Shutesbury and Wendell): Kerr and Chestnut applecrabs, Haralson, Wolf River and Zestar!® apples, Ure pears, Black Ice plums, Evan's Bali tart cherries and Montana Black Currant. Siberian C (−35°F) lives here but won't give you many peaches on ground that's cold at bloom.

Plant on a slope, but not on a windswept hilltop and not down in the bottom; Montana State recommends a 4 to 8 percent grade. After the 2023 warm spells Massachusetts growers found bark sloughing on rootstock shanks, mostly M.9 and several Geneva stocks, and the suggested fixes were Bud 9 or Bud 10 rootstocks, deeper planting, berms, white trunk paint and less nitrogen. In zone 4 country like this we taper water from mid-August so trees harden off. Watch for fire blight after a frost, peach tree borer, and spotted lanternfly, which has turned up in new Hampden County towns.

Fruit history in the Pioneer Valley

Fruit has grown on the valley's soils and hills since colonial times, and in the 1800s the trade shipped apples to England. Florence grew mulberries for silk, and the Nonotuck (later Corticelli) Silk Company grew into one of the world's biggest silk thread makers. The Peck family has farmed at Apex in Shelburne since 1828 and planted the orchard in 1946. Dr. Webster Kimball Clark started Clarkdale on an old dairy pasture around 1914, and some of its original pear trees and a greening apple over 100 years old still stand. In 1961 the Massachusetts Fruit Growers' Association bought a Belchertown dairy farm and gave it to UMass the next year, and UMass moved its research orchard there after its Amherst orchard became housing.

Questions people ask

What hardiness zone is Northampton or Amherst, MA?

Downtown Northampton plans for −21°F, MFTC zone 4b, with a typical winter of −7°F. Amherst Center plans for −18°F, zone 5a, the warmest town center on our map. Zone guides put the valley towns between USDA 5b and 6b on the 2023 map. USDA's zone is based on an average winter's coldest night; ours is built on the bad night we plan for.

When is the last frost in Amherst, MA?

NOAA station records for 1991 to 2020 put the Amherst station's median last 32°F frost on May 10 and its last 28°F on April 25, with a 152-day frost-free season. One year in ten the last 32°F comes May 22 or later. Greenfield No. 3 runs earlier, May 4.

Can you grow peaches in the Pioneer Valley?

Yes, on the right ground. Clarkdale, Apex, Park Hill and UMass's Cold Spring Orchard all grow them. Contender (−30°F) and Siberian C (−35°F) clear even the coldest bottoms here (−26°F), and Blushingstar (−25°F) clears nearly all the rest. The trouble is timing: −13°F at the UMass orchard on February 4, 2023, after the warmest January on record, killed most stone fruit buds, and Massachusetts had no peach crop that year. Put peaches on the highest ground you have.

Why do Pioneer Valley orchards sit on hills?

Cold air sinks to low ground on frosty nights. On May 18, 2023, apples up on the hill at the UMass orchard in Belchertown came through largely unscathed while the flats lost anywhere from a little to nearly everything. Most Franklin County orchards sit on hills, which kept them out of serious cold damage in 2025, while flatland orchards in Hampshire and Hampden counties had a worse peach season.

Where are the frost pockets in the Pioneer Valley?

On a still spring night the worst named spots on our map are East Farms, west of Hampton Ponds (9°F colder than downtown Northampton), the Bardwell draw in Deerfield, Erving and the creek bottoms around Colrain (8°F colder), and Wendell Depot, Mill Valley in Amherst and Aldrich Mills in Granby (7°F colder). For winter cold, Indian Orchard, Erving and Wendell Depot plan for −26°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.