Fruit Trees for Peoria, Pekin, Bloomington and Normal, Illinois

On January 5, 1999, NOAA's Congerville 2NW station read −36°F. In the same cold snap the Peoria airport read −20°F, and the Normal 4NE station, 16 miles from Congerville's, read −14°F. That's a 22°F spread across country that looks flat from the road, and it's why the ground under your trees matters when you pick fruit trees for Peoria, Pekin, Bloomington and Normal. The map covers the Illinois River Valley from Rome and Spring Bay down past Peoria, East Peoria and Pekin toward Manito, the Tazewell and Woodford County upland out to Washington, Morton, Eureka and Congerville, and western McLean County through Bloomington, Normal, Hudson and Carlock.

Almost everything we sell has come through colder than any place here plans for, so the winter number mostly sorts the tender stuff by spot, and frost at bloom is the bigger question. 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 number our cold hardiness calculator uses, adjusted for the lay of the land: a number to plan on, not the record and not a promise 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 zones are built on. The spring layer shows how much warmer or colder a spot runs than downtown Peoria on a still, clear night at bloom.

Downtown Peoria, our reference, plans for −24°F, MFTC zone 4b, with a typical winter of −10°F. Half the map's growing ground plans between −25°F and −23°F, and the warm and cold ends are only about 5°F apart. The warmest named places are on the high prairie around Bloomington and Normal (Kerrick, Shirley and Twin Grove at −21°F) and on Peoria's bluff tops (Peoria Heights and Creve Coeur at −22°F). The coldest are the Mackinaw valley near Congerville (Mackinaw Dells at −29°F, MFTC zone 4a), the upland around Washington, Goodfield and Roanoke (−27°F) and the river floor at Spring Bay and Rome (−26°F). Everything we sell rated −30°F or colder clears the planning low at every named place on the map.

Why the map looks the way it does

Start with the river. The Illinois here runs in an old channel of the Mississippi, scoured by the Kankakee Torrent about 18,500 years ago into a trench far bigger than the river needs: a broad, flat floor with bluffs up to 350 feet high. Grandview Drive drops from 792 feet in Peoria Heights to 450 feet at its south end, and the upland on both sides runs about 700 to 820 feet, with Bloomington and Normal around 800 to 840 feet.

On a clear, calm night the upland loses heat to the sky, and the chilled, heavier air slides downhill through the creek ravines (Kickapoo Creek on the Peoria side, Farm Creek east of East Peoria, the Mackinaw to the south and east) onto the valley floor. There it spreads out and sits, since a floor that wide is slow to drain. Long Shore Park, at 447 feet on Peoria Lake, plans for −26°F and reads 7°F colder than downtown at bloom, and Farmdale, on the creek bottom east of East Peoria, plans for −27°F and reads 5°F colder. Don't look to the lake for help: Upper Peoria Lake has silted in to an average depth of about 2.6 feet, water that shallow holds little heat, and its shore is low ground.

The warm ground is up the bluffs, in the thermal belt, where the cold slides past on its way down and warmer air rides above the pool. Peoria Heights, 340 feet above the floor, plans for −22°F with a typical winter of −7°F and reads 9°F warmer than downtown at bloom. Long Shore Park, about a mile away and 340 feet lower, reads 7°F colder: 16°F apart on a bloom night. 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 Peoria bluffs stand higher than that.

The stations show it too, with a catch. Lacon's station, in a river town just upstream, sits at 458 feet, near river level; the Peoria airport's sits on a tableland about 200 feet above the river. Lacon gets its first fall frost a median eight days sooner and read −27°F in the January 1999 cold snap to the airport's −20°F, but in January 1977 Lacon read −20°F while the airport hit −25°F. When arctic air pours in on a wind there's no inversion; the floor-versus-bench pattern belongs to calm, clear nights, the kind that does the damage at bloom.

East of the river the Mackinaw is the cold sink. The Congerville 2NW station, at 640 feet and about 100 feet below the village, runs a median 4°F colder on the year's coldest night than the Peoria airport and 3°F colder than Normal 4NE. The planning lows lean on the nearest stations, so with Congerville 2NW out there, and Princeville just off the map averaging −15°F on its coldest night, the upland north and east of Peoria (Dunlap, Washington, Eureka, Roanoke) plans a few degrees colder than the prairie around Bloomington.

Bloomington and Normal sit on open prairie with little slope to carry the cold away, so on a still night it's made where it sits and gathers in the low spots. Town lots do a bit better, since the map gives built-up ground a little extra warmth for the heat that pavement and buildings hold, and none of the Bloomington stations has recorded colder than −22°F since 1995.

Peoria Heights, Grandview Drive and the bluff neighborhoods

Peoria Heights takes in river floodplain, bluff and plateau, with Upper Peoria Lake along its east edge, and Grandview Drive runs about 2.5 miles along the bluff top above mostly undeveloped Park District land. That rim is the best bloom-night ground of any named place on the map. Peoria Heights plans for −22°F, MFTC zone 4b, and reads 9°F warmer than downtown at bloom; Keller, a mile and a half northwest, plans for −22°F and reads 7°F warmer. The cold pours off the rim toward the lake instead of settling.

The neighborhoods near the bluff edge do almost as well. The East Bluff, 190 feet above the floor, plans for −22°F and reads 5°F warmer; the High Wine District −23°F and 7°F warmer; the Roanoke-Randolph Street Historic District −23°F and 6°F warmer; the Cottage District −23°F and 5°F warmer. Farther north, a bit lower above the floor (120 to 140 feet), it slips: Center Bluff plans for −24°F and reads 1°F warmer, North Florence −24°F and 2°F colder, The Knolls −23°F and 3°F colder.

Put the tender and early-blooming trees near the edge: Contender and Blushingstar peaches and Goldrich apricot (−30°F), and Redstar peach, Stella sweet cherry and Montana Trial Persimmon (−25°F). Tom McCamant grows Contender at Forbidden Fruit Orchard in Paradise, Montana, and it's the only commercial peach we know of that has taken −32°F. On the warmest rim lots, Flavortop nectarine and Santa Rosa plum (−20°F) are worth a try within a few feet of a south or west wall.

Downtown Peoria, East Peoria and Creve Coeur

Downtown Peoria sits on the floor at about 500 feet and plans for −24°F, MFTC zone 4b, typical winter −10°F; within 3 miles the floor runs −26°F and the bluff and bench ground −23°F. Town heat helps a little: ahead of an October 2019 frost, the Weather Service expected Peoria and other urban areas to stay a few degrees above freezing while rural low and sheltered spots would frost. Across the river, East Peoria grew up on swampy floodplain (Fondulac, the old township name, is French for "bottom of the lake"). Its town point, 20 feet above the floor at 460 feet, plans for −25°F, MFTC zone 4a, typical winter −11°F, and reads 3°F colder at bloom. The bluff is better: Creve Coeur, 240 feet above the floor, plans for −22°F and reads 5°F warmer, while Wesley, on the floor just below it, reads 5°F colder. Harvard Hills, on bench ground toward Washington, plans for −23°F and reads 5°F warmer.

On the floor, plant for cold bloom nights: Honeycrisp and Haralson apples (−45°F), Kerr applecrab (−50°F), honeyberry (−50°F) and Red Lake currant (−40°F). Only about 15 percent of apple blossoms need to set for a crop, and open haskap flowers take 19°F. On the Creve Coeur and Harvard Hills bluffs, Lapins and Gold sweet cherries (−35°F), the hardiest sweet cherries we've found, and Hardy Iowa apricot (−35°F) have both the winter margin and the bloom nights.

West Peoria, Bellevue, Norwood and the Kickapoo country

West of the bluff the upland rolls back toward Hanna City, and near Bartonville sandstone forms steep cliffs along Kickapoo Creek Road. Bellevue, 160 feet above its floor, plans for −22°F and reads 5°F warmer than downtown at bloom, and Norwood, 180 feet up, −23°F and 5°F warmer; both have slopes below them to carry the cold off. Pottstown, on the floor at 485 feet between Norwood and Peoria, plans for −25°F. West Peoria, on a bench 130 feet up, plans for −24°F and reads 2°F colder; Bartonville −23°F and about even; Hanna City −23°F and 1°F warmer; Dunlap, on flat upland at the north edge, −25°F, MFTC zone 4a, and 3°F colder.

The middle of our list fits here: Harrow Sweet (−30°F) and Seckel (−35°F) pears on the high side, Superior plum (−35°F) with Toka (−45°F), a good pollenizer for Superior, and Montmorency tart cherry and Ashmead's Kernel apple (−35°F). Our pollination maps show what pollenizes what.

Washington, Morton, Germantown Hills and Spring Bay

The Tazewell and Woodford upland carries the deepest loess, since the old winds blew from the west and dropped the silt thickest just east of the big valleys. Morton, on flat farm upland at 717 feet, plans for −24°F, MFTC zone 4b, and reads 3°F colder than downtown at bloom, with little relief around it. Washington's center, on flat ground 20 feet above its floor, plans for −27°F, MFTC zone 4a, typical winter −12°F, colder than most ground around it (the floor within 3 miles runs −25°F and the benches −23°F), and reads 1°F colder at bloom. Germantown Hills, 190 feet above its floor, plans for −23°F and reads 5°F warmer, and Metamora −23°F and 1°F colder. Down on the river floor, Spring Bay plans for −26°F and reads 5°F colder, Rome −26°F and 4°F colder, and the floor within 3 miles of either runs −28°F, among the coldest of any town on the map.

Germantown Hills can take the bluff list. Around Washington and Morton, plant Zestar!® and Northfield Beauty (−40°F) and Northern Spy (−30°F) apples, Black Gold sweet cherry (−35°F) on the highest corner, Mount Royal plum (−45°F) and Marquette grape (−35°F). On the Spring Bay floor, stick to apples, applecrabs and bush fruit.

Pekin, North Pekin and the bottoms toward Manito

Pekin started on a ridge above the river, near the foot of Broadway. Downtown, at 473 feet, plans for −24°F, MFTC zone 4b, typical winter −10°F, and reads 3°F colder than downtown Peoria at bloom. East of downtown the ground climbs: Sheridan Estates, 170 feet above its floor, plans for −23°F and reads 7°F warmer, one of the best bloom readings of any named place on the map, and Hickory Hills −23°F and 3°F warmer. On the flats south and east of downtown, at 520 to 530 feet, Rosemary Crossing and Lake Remington read 6°F colder and Brentwood Manor 5°F colder, and all three plan for −25°F. Hollis, on the river floor north of town at 441 feet, reads 8°F colder than downtown Peoria, while Tuscarora, on a hillside just north of it and 110 feet up, plans for −22°F and reads 4°F warmer, since the cold slides right past it.

South of Pekin the bottoms widen toward the Mackinaw's mouth near Mapleton and on to Manito. The Mackinaw crosses one of Illinois's sand areas on its way to the river, and along the middle Illinois sandy Alvin soils sit on the dunes and high terraces, with somewhat poorly drained Ayrshire soils and wetter Lawler soils in the low spots between. The bottoms read 3°F to 5°F colder than downtown Peoria at bloom, and Kingston Mines, downriver, 7°F colder. Powerton Lake, the cooling pond southwest of Pekin, runs 40°F to 60°F all winter, but we haven't found any measurement of it warming the ground nearby, so don't plan on it. On the flats and bottoms, plant tough: Wolf River apple (−50°F), Trailman applecrab (−55°F), Montana Black Currant (−50°F) and Boyne raspberry (−50°F). Keep pears up on the bluff side, since they bloom early.

Eureka, Congerville and the Mackinaw valley

Out on the prairie the Mackinaw is the drain. Eureka, at 771 feet on Walnut Creek, plans for −26°F, MFTC zone 4a, typical winter −10°F, yet reads 1°F warmer than downtown Peoria at bloom. Goodfield and Roanoke plan for −27°F and read 4°F colder. Congerville, 80 feet above its floor, plans for −27°F and reads 3°F colder, with the floor within 3 miles at −28°F. Mackinaw Dells, on a steep toe slope a mile and a half west, plans for −29°F, the coldest planning low of any named place we checked, though the slope drains well enough at bloom to read 3°F warmer than downtown Peoria. Toward Bloomington the numbers ease: Carlock −25°F, Danvers −23°F and Stanford −22°F, all 2°F to 4°F colder at bloom.

In the Mackinaw country, plan for −29°F. If you only plant one tree out there, make it Kerr (−50°F) or Trailman (−55°F). Add Centennial applecrab (−50°F; Ed Schultz saw zero winter injury on it after a winter that hit −47°F), Evan's Bali tart cherry, good to at least −40°F to −45°F, and Summercrisp pear (−45°F) on the high side. Eureka reads warm at bloom, so Siberian C peach (−35°F), the hardiest peach we think is out there, fits in town, and Redstar (−25°F) is worth a try.

Bloomington, Normal and the McLean County prairie

Bloomington started as Blooming Grove, at the edge of a big grove the Kickapoo lived in, and Normal was laid out as North Bloomington in 1854. Downtown Bloomington plans for −23°F, MFTC zone 4b, typical winter −9°F, and reads 1°F warmer than downtown Peoria at bloom. The Old East Side plans for −23°F and 2°F colder, and Pone Hollow, just southwest of downtown, −23°F and 5°F colder. Normal's town point, only 10 feet above its floor, plans for −24°F, typical winter −10°F, and reads 4°F colder. Kerrick, north of Normal at 849 feet, and Twin Grove, west of Bloomington, plan for −21°F but still read 3°F colder at bloom, since flat prairie gives the cold nowhere to drain. Towanda and Hudson plan for −22°F and read 4°F colder. Lake Bloomington, a city reservoir, won't warm its shore the way a big open lake would, and the draws around Evergreen Lake run cold: Comlara Park's Shady Hollow area reads 8°F colder at bloom.

Put Bartlett and Red d'Anjou pears (−35°F), Stanley plum (−30°F) and the peaches on town lots near buildings. Out on the open prairie, lean on apples like Blue Pearmain (−35°F) and Snowsweet® (−40°F), La Crescent grape (−40°F) and Trader mulberry (−40°F), the hardiest mulberry we know of.

Spring frost and bloom from the bluffs to the bottoms

NOAA's 1991 to 2020 medians at the Peoria airport station, up on the tableland, put the last 32°F at April 15, the last 28°F at April 3 and the first fall frost at October 18, about 182 frost-free days; in a late year (1 in 10) the last 32°F comes April 29. At the Normal 4NE station northeast of Normal it's April 22 and October 14, 170 days, with a late-year last frost of May 18. Congerville 2NW, down 100 feet below its village, gets its last 32°F April 28 and 163 frost-free days, and Princeville, just off the map, 160 days, with a late-year last frost of May 21.

The spring layer follows the same drainage, sharper, since spring frost pools usually top out 30 to 200 feet up. Bluff edges with a long drop below read warmest: Peoria Heights 9°F warmer than downtown Peoria, Sheridan Estates and the High Wine District 7°F, Norwood, Germantown Hills, Bellevue and Creve Coeur 5°F. Floors, creek bottoms and flat prairie read coldest: Hollis and Comlara's Shady Hollow 8°F colder, Long Shore Park and Kingston Mines 7°F, Tremont 6°F, most of the McLean County prairie 2°F to 5°F. NC State's fruit people say 3°F to 4°F can separate no crop from a full one, and in our 2026 bloom frost in Montana, growers up on the benches fared much better than the ones lower in the valleys.

Here the freezes that hurt come after warm spells. In 2012 an Illinois grower report had apricots, peaches and apples blooming 3 to 4 weeks early, and then lows in the 20s°F on April 11 and 12 did real damage. In April 2021 a freeze warning for the upper 20s°F caught Terra Brockman's family farm near Eureka with apples, peaches and pears already in bloom. In 2025 Bloomington hit 24°F on March 31, but most apples and pears were still between half-inch green and tight cluster, which kept the damage down: by Michigan State's numbers, apple buds at tight cluster lose about 10 percent at 27°F, and open blossoms start dying near 28°F.

So put apricots, peaches, sweet cherries, plums and pears on your highest ground and keep apples, haskap and bush fruit for the lower spots. Most fruit can lose half its blossoms with little effect; clustered fruit like cherries and grapes forgives less. Bob Purvis's rule: an east-facing slope is ideal, and a north slope holds early bloomers back. Don't plant a hedge across the slope below your trees, since it dams the cold right where they stand, and through bloom, mow short and water a day or two ahead of a frost. Site can't save you in a windy freeze like 2007's, when there's no inversion to climb out of.

What the weather records say

The coldest reading on file at any station in or around the map is Congerville 2NW's −36°F on January 5, 1999, the same cold snap that set Lacon's record of −27°F and left Normal 4NE at only −14°F. The long records bottom out on February 13, 1905: Minonk −28°F, the Peoria airport −26°F and Normal 4NE −24°F, still the coldest on file after 115 to 123 years. In the January 2019 cold snap, the winter Illinois set its −38°F state record, the stations here bottomed out between −20°F and −23°F. Since 1995 the Peoria airport's coldest is −21°F, and the map plans for −22°F there, a degree colder than anything it has recorded in that time.

USDA's 2023 map is built on the average of each winter's coldest night. NOAA's average yearly lows here run −8°F at the Bloomington stations, −10°F at Normal 4NE, −11°F at the Peoria airport, −13°F at Congerville 2NW and −15°F at Princeville. We didn't find USDA's own 2023 zone for Peoria or Bloomington in a source we could check, so look up your ZIP code on USDA's map. Our MFTC zones read colder than USDA's because they're built on the bad night we plan for: NOAA station records show the worst night in about 30 winters runs a median 13°F below a station's average winter low.

What you can grow here

Bluff edges and the high prairie, −21°F to −23°F. Peoria Heights, Keller, the East Bluff and the near-downtown bluff districts, Creve Coeur, Bellevue, Norwood, Germantown Hills, Sheridan Estates, downtown Bloomington, Towanda, Hudson and the high prairie at Kerrick and Twin Grove. Everything rated −25°F or colder is a good pick, including Risingstar peach, Hardired nectarine, SnowCzar almond and Purvis Hardy English walnut (−25°F), and Veteran peach, Rainier sweet cherry, Tomcot apricot and Bill's Nectar peachcot (−30°F). Worth a try by a south wall: Santa Rosa, Flavortop and Bing (−20°F). Where the prairie reads cold at bloom, give early bloomers the highest corner or the shelter of a building.

Town lots, upland farms and most of the valley floor, −24°F to −25°F. Downtown Peoria, East Peoria, Pekin, West Peoria, Morton, Normal, Tremont, Carlock, Dunlap and Kingston Mines. Anything rated −30°F or colder fits: Honeycrisp (−45°F), Golden Russet (−40°F), Liberty (−35°F) and Northern Spy (−30°F) apples; Seckel and Bartlett (−35°F) and D'Anjou (−30°F) pears on the high side; Superior with Toka, Italian (−35°F) and Stanley (−30°F) plums; Lapins, Gold and Black Gold sweet cherries; Siberian C, Contender and Hardy Iowa wherever the spring reading is near downtown Peoria's or better; Frontenac grape (−35°F) and hardy kiwi (−40°F). The −25°F peaches and Stella are worth a try in your best spot.

Cold floors and the Mackinaw country, −26°F to −29°F. Spring Bay, Rome, Long Shore Park, Farmdale, Forest City, Eureka, Washington, Goodfield, Roanoke and Congerville. Everything at −30°F or colder still clears, but most of these floors read cold at bloom, so lean on Haralson, Wolf River and Zestar!® apples, Kerr, Trailman and Centennial applecrabs, Evan's Bali (−45°F) and Meteor (−40°F) tart cherries, Toka and Mount Royal plums, Summercrisp and Ure (−45°F) pears on the high side only, honeyberry, Montana Black Currant and Pixwell gooseberry (−40°F). Eureka and Washington read near downtown Peoria at bloom, so Siberian C and Lapins fit there.

Roots, site and local troubles. Roots are the weak link, and snow cover protects them; on bare, windswept prairie, mulch and keep the soil moist into winter. Illinois Extension says to pull mulch back from the trunk so mice and voles don't move in, guard bark against deer, and watch for apple scab, cedar-apple rust and powdery mildew. Taper water from mid-August so trees harden off; the same Michigan tart cherry buds that died at about −12°F in November survived about −20°F in January. Illinois Farm Bureau advises higher, well drained ground and a soil pH of 5.6 to 7.0. Test drainage first: dig a 2-foot hole, fill it, let it drain, refill it, and under 10 hours is well drained. Out on the Mississippi, the Davenport, Moline and Quad Cities map covers the river towns; toward Chicago, see Joliet, Orland Park and the south suburbs.

Fruit history here

In the decade after the Civil War, Franklin K. Phoenix's Phoenix Nursery in Bloomington was the largest nursery outside the Eastern states, about 600 acres across the east edges of Bloomington and Normal. An 1871 visit counted 250 acres of apple trees and 100 acres of grapes and pear, peach and plum trees, and in 1867 Phoenix hired the artist William Henry Prestele to paint hand-colored fruit plates for his tree peddlers. Washington's town festival was the Cherry Festival before it became Good Neighbor Days. Today Braffet Berry Farm and Orchard in Carlock has u-pick berries and apples in September, the Refuge Food Forest in Normal grows about two dozen apple trees for classes and a donation harvest, and in March 2025 Illinois Extension's Nick Frillman bench-grafted apples in Bloomington including Ashmead's Kernel, Blue Pearmain, Northern Spy and Northfield Beauty.

Questions people ask

What growing zone is Peoria, Illinois?

Downtown Peoria plans for −24°F, MFTC zone 4b, with a typical winter of −10°F. The bluff tops at Peoria Heights and Creve Coeur plan for −22°F, and the river floor at Spring Bay −26°F, MFTC zone 4a. USDA's zones are built on an average winter, ours on the bad night we plan for, so ours read colder.

What zone is Bloomington-Normal?

Downtown Bloomington plans for −23°F, MFTC zone 4b, typical winter −9°F, and Normal's town point −24°F, also 4b. The high prairie at Kerrick and Twin Grove plans for −21°F. NOAA's Bloomington stations average −8°F on the year's coldest night; USDA's zones are built on that kind of average, ours on the bad night we plan for.

When is the last frost in Peoria?

At the Peoria airport station, on the tableland about 200 feet above the river, NOAA's 1991 to 2020 median last 32°F is April 15, with about 182 frost-free days; in a late year (1 in 10) it comes April 29. Low ground runs later: the Congerville 2NW station, 100 feet below its village, has a median last 32°F of April 28.

Can you grow peaches in central Illinois?

Yes. Contender, Veteran and Blushingstar (−30°F) and Siberian C (−35°F) clear the planning low at every named place on this map, and Redstar and Risingstar (−25°F) anywhere it plans −25°F or warmer. Bloom is the problem (the April 2007 freeze took about 90 percent of Illinois's peach crop), so plant them on bluff edges that read warm at bloom, like Peoria Heights, Creve Coeur and Bellevue.

Where are the frost pockets around Peoria?

On a still bloom night the coldest named places are Hollis, on the river floor north of Pekin, and Comlara Park's Shady Hollow area (8°F colder than downtown Peoria), then Long Shore Park below Peoria Heights and Kingston Mines (7°F) and Tremont (6°F). The warmest are the bluff edges: Peoria Heights reads 9°F warmer than downtown.

Why did the 2007 freeze kill so much Illinois fruit?

A warm spell starting March 21 pushed trees well ahead of schedule, then early April ran 10°F to 20°F below normal for about two weeks, with freezing lows from April 3 to 10 that reached the low 20s°F on high winds. Open blossoms start dying near 28°F, and a windy freeze has no inversion, so the benches that save you on a still night don't help. Illinois lost about 90 percent of its peach crop and 70 percent of its apple crop.

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.