Fruit Trees for Oneonta, Delhi and the Upper Susquehanna, New York

In a median year the last 32°F frost of spring comes May 7 at Cooperstown, May 14 at the Emmons station on the east edge of Oneonta, and May 28 at the NOAA station just outside Delhi. That spread matters more than the depth of winter when you're picking fruit trees for Oneonta, Delhi and the upper Susquehanna. Every town here plans for a winter low between −24°F and −29°F, but on a still night at bloom a hillside can run 15°F to 18°F warmer than the creek bottom 2 miles away.

The map covers this corner of south-central New York on both sides of the Susquehanna and Delaware divide: the river from Goodyear Lake past Oneonta and Otego to Wells Bridge, the side valleys at Schenevus, Davenport, Laurens and Franklin, and Delhi, Bloomville and Hobart on the West Branch Delaware in the western Catskills. 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 at any spot is its 30-year planning low, the bad winter night we'd plan a tree around, and the same number our cold hardiness calculator uses. It runs conservative, so treat it as a safe number to plan for, not a forecast of how often it comes. The MFTC zone is that number in half zones, and 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 Oneonta, the reference town, on a still, clear night at bloom.

Downtown Oneonta plans for −24°F (MFTC 4b, typical winter −10°F). The middle of the growing ground in this airshed plans for −26°F, the coldest 5 percent for −28°F or colder and the warmest 5 percent for −23°F or warmer, so every town and hamlet lands in 4a or 4b. The cold end is Delhi's floor and the low ground around East Sidney, Sidney Center and Bartlett Hollow, all −29°F; the warm end is hillsides like Winnie Hill north of Oneonta, −21°F. The spring layer splits the map far more, from 8°F or more colder than Oneonta in the headwater draws to 13°F warmer on the best slopes.

Why the map looks the way it does

This is hill and valley country with no big water to soften it, the ridges standing roughly 800 to 2,000 feet above the floors. North and west, the Susquehanna leaves Otsego Lake at Cooperstown, runs south into Goodyear Lake, then west past the south side of Oneonta to Wells Bridge (about 1,057 feet), fed by Schenevus, Charlotte, Otego and Ouleout creeks. South and east, the West Branch Delaware comes down from Hobart (1,655 feet) to Delhi (1,371 feet) out of the Bovina and Hobart uplands, some of the highest ground in Delaware County. On a clear, calm night most of the cold is made right on the floors as the ground loses heat to the sky, and more slides off the hills down every one of those creeks.

The two big floors don't behave alike. Downtown Oneonta, at 1,116 feet, plans for −24°F, the mildest town on the map; Delhi, about 250 feet higher, plans for −29°F. NOAA station records show the same gap: over 25 shared years, the Delhi 2 SE station's coldest night of the year ran a median 5°F colder than the old Oneonta station's. Delhi's valley heads up into those high uplands, the Little Delaware comes in just below the village, and the floor collects what drains down. Within 3 miles of Delhi the floor runs a median −29°F, against −25°F around Oneonta. Oneonta's buildings add a little on top; downtown reads a degree or so warmer than the floor around it, which is what town heat does on still nights.

Side valleys run colder than the main river. On January 28, 2005, the East Sidney station, on the Ouleout floor at the level of the lake behind the East Sidney dam, read −27°F while Emmons read −20°F and Cooperstown −18°F. On January 15, 1957, the station in Oneonta read −24°F and the Oneonta 3 SE station, at about the same height, −27°F. The old New Lisbon station north of the city, only about 80 feet higher than Oneonta's, ran a median 8°F colder on the year's coldest night over 22 years and holds the coldest reading on file here, −37°F. NOAA's coordinates are too rough to place it on a landform, but a gap that big at the same height is what a cold pocket looks like.

Above the floors sits the thermal belt, where cold drains past and milder air rides over the pool. Here it shows best 400 to 800 feet up. Baker Hill west of Oneonta (410 feet above the floor) runs 12°F warmer than Oneonta at bloom, and Chamberlain Hill above Otego and Betts Hill up the valley from Delhi, 610 to 740 feet up, run 13°F warmer. It fades toward the tops; Bramley Mountain, 1,240 feet up, runs only 7°F warmer. A Hungarian study of 69 clear, calm nights found a valley floor averaging 6.7°F colder than a slope 230 feet higher, and the hamlets at about that height agree: Arabia (230 feet up) runs 7°F warmer than Oneonta at bloom.

Height above the nearest low ground is what counts, not elevation. Meridale, at 1,802 feet, sits at the bottom of its draw and runs 8°F colder than Oneonta at bloom; Meredith hamlet, 1.2 miles away and 240 feet above its floor, runs 6°F warmer. Harpersfield, Mundale and South Kortright, all above 1,500 feet, sit at the bottoms of their valleys and run 8°F colder.

Water doesn't help here. Goodyear Lake averages 14 feet deep, and a shallow lake like that freezes early and stops helping in midwinter; Cliffside, on its east shore, plans for −27°F like the floor. The town of Franklin's uplands are shaly loam over hardpan and its valleys gravelly loam and alluvium, and Oneonta's river and creek bottoms were wet ground from the start. Wet, grassy bottoms run cold on frost nights. All of this is the still-night pattern; when arctic air comes in on a wind, the slopes lose their edge.

Oneonta: downtown, the West End, the Plains and the hills

Oneonta, the City of the Hills, sits on the Susquehanna floor with the river running west past the south side of the city. Downtown (1,116 feet) plans for −24°F, MFTC 4b, typical winter −10°F, and the West End reads the same. Within 3 miles the floor runs a median −25°F, the benches −23°F and the warmest tenth of the growing ground −21°F. That makes Oneonta the one town here where a −25°F peach like Blushingstar clears the number on a town lot; put it within a few feet of a south or west wall. West Oneonta, on Otego Creek, plans for −25°F and is even with Oneonta at bloom. Plan the Plains, the lowland north of the river around the mouth of Otego Creek, and the Southside across the river like the valley floor around town, a median −25°F. Emmons, at the east edge of town, is a caution: the hamlet plans for −27°F and runs 4°F colder at bloom, and the Emmons station's own 30-year number is −26°F (it hit −26°F in January 1994 and on January 6, 1996), 2°F colder than the map reads at the station.

The 1883 town history says the streets climb the hillsides north and east of the village, and that's the warm ground. Baker Hill west of West Oneonta plans for −23°F and runs 12°F warmer at bloom; Gifford Hill to the northeast, −23°F to −24°F and 10°F warmer; Winnie Hill, 2.3 miles north of downtown and 710 feet up, −21°F and 12°F warmer; Coe Hill, 1,000 feet up south of town, −22°F and 9°F warmer. On those slopes Lapins and Gold sweet cherries (−35°F), Harlayne and Tomcot apricots (−30°F) and Contender peach (−30°F) clear the number with room to spare and get the spring edge they need.

Up the river: Goodyear Lake, Milford, Schenevus and Worcester

Above Oneonta the Susquehanna runs south out of Otsego Lake through the town of Milford into Goodyear Lake. Milford village plans for −27°F, MFTC 4a, typical winter −13°F, and 3°F colder than Oneonta at bloom; within 3 miles the floor runs −28°F and the benches −24°F. Portlandville, just above the lake, plans for −26°F but runs 8°F colder at bloom, as bad as any hamlet on the map. Colliersville, where Schenevus Creek comes in below the lake, plans for −28°F and 4°F colder. Red Ridge Hill southwest of Milford and Dutch Hill north of Milford Center, 490 to 580 feet up, plan for −23°F to −24°F and run 12°F warmer.

Schenevus Creek rises at West Richmondville and runs through Worcester and Schenevus to Colliersville. Worcester plans for −28°F (typical winter −13°F) and runs 1°F colder than Oneonta at bloom; Schenevus, 30 feet above its floor, −27°F and even at bloom; Elk Creek, north of Schenevus, −28°F and 8°F colder. Within 3 miles of either village the floor runs −28°F and the benches −24°F. The broad tops of Dog Hill and Hooker Mountain, about 900 feet up, plan for −23°F and run 8°F to 9°F warmer. Cooperstown sits just off the north edge of this map; past it, over the hills to the Mohawk, the Utica, Rome and the Mohawk Valley map covers you.

Otego, Wells Bridge, Laurens and New Lisbon

Below Oneonta the river runs southwest through the town of Otego beside I-88. Otego village (1,076 feet) plans for −27°F, MFTC 4a, typical winter −13°F, 2°F colder than Oneonta at bloom; within 3 miles the floor runs −27°F and the benches −24°F. Wells Bridge plans for −28°F and runs 7°F colder at bloom. The slopes are where stone fruit goes: Chamberlain Hill (740 feet up, 2.6 miles from the village) plans for −23°F and runs 13°F warmer, and Mount Zion southwest of the village −24°F and 11°F warmer. Out at the west edge of the map, Mallory Corner (300 feet up) plans for −24°F, MFTC 4b, and runs 5°F warmer. West toward Cortland, the Ithaca and Cortland map takes over.

Otego Creek comes down through Mount Vision and Laurens and meets the river by West Oneonta. Laurens plans for −27°F and runs 3°F colder at bloom, Mount Vision −27°F and 6°F colder, while East Hill, a mile from Laurens and 690 feet up, plans for −23°F and runs 11°F warmer. New Lisbon hamlet plans for −27°F and is even with Oneonta at bloom, but keep the old New Lisbon station's record in mind and treat the floor hamlets of Morris and Elm Grove to the west (−28°F, 5°F colder at bloom) as frost pockets.

Davenport and the Charlotte Creek valley

Charlotte Creek drains the north end of Harpersfield and Kortright and runs west through Davenport to the Susquehanna near Oneonta. The headwaters are cold: Harpersfield (1,665 feet) and North Harpersfield plan for −28°F and run 8°F colder than Oneonta at bloom. Davenport, 20 feet above its floor, plans for −27°F, MFTC 4a, typical winter −13°F, and is even with Oneonta at bloom. Fergusonville (−27°F, 8°F colder), Davenport Center (−28°F, 6°F colder) and West Davenport (−27°F, 7°F colder, on river-bottom ground) are the frost pockets. Within 3 miles of Davenport the floor runs −28°F and the benches −25°F. Climb out and it changes fast: Dutch Hill (450 feet up) and Webb Hill (720 feet up) plan for −23°F to −24°F and run 10°F to 12°F warmer, an 18°F swing on a bloom night between Davenport Center and Webb Hill, 2.2 miles apart. Italian and Superior plums (−35°F) and D'Anjou pear (−30°F) clear every number in this valley; save apricots and sweet cherries for the slopes.

Franklin, Treadwell and East Sidney on the Ouleout

Ouleout Creek drains the north half of the town of Meredith and runs west through Franklin and East Sidney Lake to the Susquehanna near Unadilla. Franklin village plans for −27°F, MFTC 4a, typical winter −13°F, 3°F colder than Oneonta at bloom. Treadwell, northeast of the village at 1,527 feet, and North Franklin run 8°F colder at bloom. Bartlett Hollow, Sidney Center and East Sidney plan for −29°F, the coldest on the Susquehanna side, and East Sidney runs 7°F colder at bloom. The hills right above that cold are some of the best ground on the map. Oak Hill (610 feet up, 1.6 miles from Franklin) plans for −24°F and runs 12°F warmer than Oneonta at bloom, and Jackson Hill, 2.1 miles from Treadwell, −22°F and 10°F warmer, an 18°F swing from Treadwell. On the upland hardpan, dig a test hole first.

Delhi, Bloomville, Hobart and the West Branch

The West Branch Delaware runs from Hobart through South Kortright and Bloomville to Delhi, the county seat, with the Little Delaware coming in just below the village. Its floor runs as cold as anything on the map. Delhi village plans for −29°F, MFTC 4a, typical winter −14°F, and 6°F colder than Oneonta at bloom; within 3 miles the floor runs −29°F, the benches −26°F and the warmest tenth −25°F. East Delhi, by Fitches Covered Bridge, reads −29°F and 5°F colder. Upriver, Bloomville, South Kortright and Hobart plan for −28°F and run 5°F to 8°F colder at bloom, and Bovina Center, in a side valley to the south, and West Delhi, in a draw above the valley to the west, −28°F and 5°F to 7°F colder. Delhi's −29°F is colder than anything the Delhi 2 SE station has recorded since 1995 (−26°F on January 6, 1996), but that station hit −32°F in 1994 and −33°F in 1934.

The hills right above Delhi are the reason to plant here. Federal Hill, 1.8 miles east of the village and 820 feet up, plans for −23°F, MFTC 4b, and runs 10°F warmer than Oneonta at bloom, a 16°F swing from the village on a frost night. Betts Hill, up the valley toward Bloomville (610 feet up), runs 13°F warmer, and Hollister Hill plans for −26°F but runs 11°F warmer. SUNY Delhi's campus runs from its golf course on the valley floor up to Clark Field House at the top, and the rule holds there too: fruit goes up the hill.

Meredith, Meridale and Kortright: the high middle

The town of Meredith straddles the divide (its north half drains to the Ouleout, its south half to the West Branch), and its hamlets show how little elevation buys you on its own. Meredith hamlet, at 2,165 feet and 240 feet above its floor, plans for −26°F and runs 6°F warmer than Oneonta at bloom. Meridale, on NY 28 at the bottom of its draw, reads −27°F and 8°F colder, and so does East Meredith, down on Kortright Creek by Hanford Mills. Within 3 miles of Meredith the floor runs −28°F and the benches −25°F. Kortright works the same way: Kortright Station, on the upland along County Route 12 and 120 feet above its floor, plans for −25°F, MFTC 4b, and 1°F warmer than Oneonta at bloom, while West Kortright, lower in its valley, reads −27°F and 8°F colder. Put stone fruit on ground like Kortright Station and Meredith hamlet, and give the draws to apples and berries.

Spring frost and bloom on the upper Susquehanna

Bloom here lands right inside the frost window. In 2010 New York's apples were 96 percent in full bloom by May 16. NOAA's 1991 to 2020 medians put the last 32°F of spring at May 7 at Cooperstown, May 14 at Emmons, May 21 at East Sidney, May 24 at Walton 2 (just south of the map) and May 28 at Delhi 2 SE, and the last 28°F at April 28 at Cooperstown, May 1 at Emmons and May 10 at the other three. One year in ten the last 32°F comes May 30 to June 3. Frost-free seasons run 150 days at Cooperstown, 146 at East Sidney, 142 at Emmons, 133 at Walton 2 and 124 at Delhi 2 SE. UVM calls under 135 days short-season country, so keep late-ripening kinds off Delhi's floor. The spring layer compares terrain on a still night and doesn't carry those station differences; the Delhi 2 SE station sits a little above the floor and still frosts two weeks after Emmons, so read Delhi's spring numbers against Delhi's dates.

On May 9 to 12, 2010, freeze warnings went out statewide. Oneonta's low that week was 29°F and Norwich's 26°F, and downriver in Broome County apples were thinned in the lower valley while the upper hillsides were spared. On April 17, 2012, after a warm March, the Weather Service aimed a freeze warning at Delaware County growers. On May 18, 2023, a late frost killed apple blooms across New York; some farms lost up to 95 percent while many had little damage, and Cornell's Gregory Peck said microclimates were a big part of that story.

Open blossoms of nearly every tree fruit start dying around 28°F, but apples forgive a lot (Minnesota's fruit people figure only about 15 percent of blossoms need to set), sweet cherries can lose half their flowers and still crop, and haskap flowers take 19°F. So apricots, peaches and sweet cherries go on slopes 400 to 800 feet above the floor; plums and pears a step lower; apples, haskap and bush fruit on the floors and in the draws. Cornell suggests planting varieties that bloom at different times. By Bob Purvis's rule, an east slope warms quickly on a frosty morning and a north slope holds early bloomers back. Through bloom, mow under 2 inches, don't till, and water a day or two before a forecast frost; frost cloth of 0.5, 0.9 and 1.5 ounces per square yard buys about 4°F, 6°F and 8°F.

What the weather records say

The coldest reading on file here is −37°F at the old New Lisbon station, on January 19, 1904 and December 30, 1917. That 1904 morning set records at three stations: New Lisbon −37°F, West Harpersfield −36°F and Oneonta −28°F. February 9, 1934 set them at Cooperstown (−34°F) and Delhi 2 SE (−33°F). More recently, on January 22, 1994, Walton read −33°F, Delhi 2 SE −32°F and Emmons −26°F. The winter of 2013 to 2014 hurt the apple crop on Wayside Cider's family land in Delhi.

USDA's zones are built on the average of each winter's coldest night, and NOAA station records show the worst night in about 30 winters runs a median 13°F below that average. The −14°F average yearly lows at Emmons and East Sidney sit in USDA's 5b band and Delhi 2 SE's −17°F in 5a. On the night we plan for, Oneonta is −24°F, MFTC 4b, and Delhi −29°F, MFTC 4a. Plant for those.

What you can grow here

Every plant we sell is zoned to the coldest temperature it has actually come through, so hold its number right up against your planning low. Here the winter number is the easy part: every town and hamlet on the map plans for −29°F or warmer, so anything that has come through −30°F or colder clears it everywhere. Bloom frost and season length decide the rest.

Slopes and town lots that plan for −25°F or warmer (downtown Oneonta, the West End, the hills above the floors, Mallory Corner, Kortright Station and Arabia). Peaches: Contender and Veteran (−30°F), Siberian C (−35°F), and Blushingstar (−25°F; it came through −25°F at our place on January 13, 2024 without damage). Apricots: Harlayne and Tomcot (−30°F), Westcot (−45°F). Sweet cherries: Stella (−30°F), Lapins and Gold (−35°F). Plums: Stanley (−30°F), Italian and Superior (−35°F). Pears: D'Anjou (−30°F), Seckel (−35°F). Apples: Baldwin (−25°F), Liberty and Cox Orange Pippin (−30°F).

The valley floors and villages, −26°F to −28°F (Milford, Otego, Laurens, Schenevus, Worcester, Davenport, Franklin, Hobart, Bloomville, Meredith). Apples: Haralson and Honeycrisp (−45°F), Zestar!®, Cortland and Red McIntosh (−40°F), Macoun (−35°F). Pears: Luscious and Summercrisp (−40°F), Bartlett (−35°F). Plums: Toka (−45°F), Mount Royal (−40°F), Superior (−35°F). Cherries: Evan's Bali (−45°F), Meteor (−40°F), and Lapins on any rise you've got. Worth a try in a good spot (a south wall, snow over the roots): Blushingstar peach (−25°F). In the draws that read 6°F to 8°F colder at bloom, stick to apples, pears and bush fruit.

The coldest floors, −29°F (Delhi, East Delhi, East Sidney, Sidney Center, Bartlett Hollow). Apples: Haralson, Honeycrisp, Frostbite and Wolf River (−45°F). Applecrabs: Kerr (−50°F) and Trailman (−60°F); if you only plant one tree, make it one of these. Pears: Ure and Summercrisp (−40°F). Plums: Toka (−45°F), Pipestone (−40°F). Cherries: Evan's Bali (−45°F), Romeo dwarf cherry (−50°F).

Bush fruit fits everywhere: Montana Black Currant (−50°F; we've never seen winter damage on it), Red Lake currant, Pixwell gooseberry, Boyne raspberry and the Cold Climate Blueberry Bundle (all −40°F), and Honeyberry (−50°F) for the worst frost pocket you've got.

Plums and pears need a pollenizer nearby; Toka is a good pollenizer for Superior, and the pollination maps show who pairs with whom. Cornell's fruit people found Geneva rootstocks unhurt at −40°F under about 6 inches of snow in 1994, while in 2004, after a thaw took the snow, nights near −25°F killed many Malling rootstocks, so hold snow over the roots. Plant on a slope (Montana State likes a 4 to 8 percent grade), off the bottom and the windswept top, with at least 6 hours of sun, and clear brush that dams cold air at the foot of the slope. Test drainage before planting (dig 2 feet, fill, let it drain, refill; under 10 hours is well drained), especially on hardpan. We taper water from mid-August in zone 4 country so trees harden off. Around Delhi deer eat the wild apples and likely spread them, so fence young trees. Cornell Cooperative Extension of Schoharie and Otsego Counties runs tree and small fruit pruning workshops with Laura McDermott of the Eastern New York Commercial Horticulture Program.

Fruit history here

A traveler in 1753 noted fruit trees at the old village at the mouth of Otego Creek, Indian orchards stood at the mouths of Otego and Charlotte creeks, and apple trees of Indian planting were still bearing near Colliersville in 1883. An early Oneonta settler raised a nursery from apple seed, set out an orchard about 1797 and lived to drink its cider. Then this became dairy country, and the Wayside Cider founders, starting on a farm in Delhi in 2015, found productive untended apple trees within 30 miles, probably on abandoned orchards. Today Strickland Hollow Farm in Meridale makes Calvados-style apple brandy and had 325 trees of 24 cider varieties by 2019, Awestruck Ciders pours in Walton, and in 2023 Oneonta planted a heritage apple orchard at the Swart-Wilcox House Museum. Just north of the map in Central New York, Middlefield Orchard hosts the extension pruning workshops.

Questions people ask

What hardiness zone is Oneonta, NY?

One county zone list puts Otsego County in USDA 5a, and the Emmons station's −14°F average yearly low sits in 5b; USDA's zones are built on an average winter. On the bad night we plan for, downtown Oneonta is −24°F, MFTC 4b, the floor around town −25°F to −26°F (4a), and the hills above town −21°F to −23°F (4b).

When is the last frost in Oneonta?

At the Emmons station on the east edge of Oneonta the median last 32°F frost is May 14 and the last 28°F is May 1 (1991 to 2020), and one year in ten the last 32°F comes as late as May 31. Creek bottoms frost later than town on still nights, and slopes well above the river frost less.

Why does Delhi frost so much later than Oneonta?

NOAA's Delhi 2 SE station has a median last 32°F of May 28 and a 124-day frost-free season, against May 14 and 142 days at Emmons. Delhi's floor sits about 250 feet higher, in a valley that heads up into the Bovina and Hobart uplands, some of the highest ground in Delaware County, and cold off those hills drains down to it. Our map shows the same 5°F winter gap the stations do: −29°F at Delhi, −24°F at Oneonta.

Can you grow peaches in the Catskills?

Yes, on the right ground. Contender has come through −30°F and Siberian C −35°F, which clears every planning low on this map, even Delhi's −29°F. Put them on a slope well above the floor, like Federal Hill above Delhi, which runs 10°F warmer than Oneonta on a still bloom night.

What are the best cider apples for the Catskills?

Anything that has come through −30°F or colder clears every planning low on this map: Franklin Cider and Golden Russet (−40°F), Ashmead's Kernel (−35°F), and Binet Rouge, Ellis Bitter, Brown Snout and Ribston Pippin Cider (−30°F). Apples also forgive bloom frost better than stone fruit, since only about 15 percent of blossoms need to set.

Where are the frost pockets around Oneonta?

The creek bottoms and headwater draws. Portlandville above Goodyear Lake, Treadwell, North Franklin, Fergusonville and Elk Creek all run 8°F colder than Oneonta on a still bloom night. For winter cold, East Sidney, Sidney Center and Delhi's floor are the coldest, at −29°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.