Fruit Trees for Reno, Sparks, Carson City, Minden and Gardnerville, Nevada

On the morning of January 31, 2023, a thermometer 2.8 miles northwest of Minden read −14°F. Minden-Tahoe Airport read −9°F, the Fish Springs bench 3°F, Kingsbury Grade 8°F and Glenbrook, on the shore of Lake Tahoe, 10°F. That spread is most of what you need to know about fruit trees for Reno, Sparks, Carson City, Minden and Gardnerville. By our standards this is mild country and nearly everything we sell clears its winters. What decides how a tree does is where it sits: down where the cold settles, or up on ground the cold drains past.

This map covers the Truckee Meadows, the north valleys from Spanish Springs to Cold Springs, Verdi and Mogul, Washoe Valley, Carson City, Dayton and Virginia City on the Comstock, the Carson Valley from Indian Hills and Genoa to the Gardnerville Ranchos, and the Lake Tahoe shore from Incline Village to South Lake Tahoe. 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

Every number on the map is a 30-year planning low, the same number our cold hardiness calculator gives, built from NOAA station records since the 1995-96 winter and adjusted for the lay of the land. It's a safe number to plan around, not the record. You also get the MFTC zone (that number in half zones), the typical winter (an average year's coldest night, the kind of number USDA's map is built on) and a spring layer: how much warmer or colder a spot runs than downtown Reno on a still, clear night at bloom.

Downtown Reno plans for −5°F (MFTC zone 6a), with a typical winter of +7°F. The middle of the growing ground plans for −9°F. The mildest ground, about −3°F or better, is the bench country of south and southwest Reno (Caughlin Ranch −2°F, Arrowcreek and Galena −3°F) plus Virginia City at −3°F, with Incline Village close behind at −4°F. The coldest, −17°F and colder, is nearly all the Carson Valley floor: Minden and Gardnerville at −17°F, Centerville at −18°F and the coldest tenth of the ground around Minden at −19°F.

Why the map looks the way it does

These are north to south basins on the western edge of the Great Basin, in the rain shadow of the Carson Range. The Truckee Meadows floor sits around 4,400 to 4,500 ft, the Carson Valley floor around 4,700 ft. On a clear, calm night the ground gives its heat up to the sky, cold air slides off the Carson Range, Peavine Peak, the Virginia Range and the Pine Nut Mountains, and it collects on the floors. NOAA station records from the December 2009 cold snap lay it out: Minden −18°F, Carson City −16°F, Spanish Springs −14°F, Sparks −8°F, the Reno airport −6°F. The Mount Rose ski area station, at 8,801 ft, read −6°F in the same snap, 12°F warmer than Minden. The cold sat in the bottoms with milder air above it.

The Carson Valley is the big cold pool. The forks of the Carson meet about a mile southeast of Genoa, and the river runs north about 18 miles across a floor so flat the map puts the slope at Minden at 0.2 percent. A wide, shallow basin like that can pool harder than a deep valley that drains, since most of a pool's cold is made right on the floor. The Record-Courier's readings put the coldest spots in the river bottom between the forks and northwest of Minden.

Up out of the pool it's a different climate. The benches of south and southwest Reno sit 250 to 570 ft above the floor and plan for −2°F to −3°F, milder than downtown though they're higher. The Reno weather office station, about 580 ft above the airport station, averages a coldest night of 10°F a year since the mid 1990s to the airport's 8°F. The Virginia City station, at 6,340 ft on the east slope of Mount Davidson, has never recorded colder than −11°F in 34 years on file, while the valley stations below it hold records of −16°F to −27°F. Height alone doesn't do it: the Little Valley station, at 6,310 ft, runs a median 20°F colder than the Reno airport on the year's coldest night. What counts is height above the nearest low ground, and whether the cold has somewhere to go.

Lake Tahoe is the other warm sink. It's 1,645 ft deep and as a rule stays open all winter, and water that deep hands heat to its shore. The Glenbrook station, on the Nevada shore at 6,350 ft, has a coldest reading of −6°F in 54 years. The South Lake Tahoe airport station, at 6,257 ft and back from the water, holds −29°F and runs a median 17°F colder than Glenbrook on the year's coldest night. Don't count on Washoe Lake for that; it's 12 ft deep at most and has dried up completely in droughts.

Cold also moves on a still night. The Truckee leaves the Meadows east of Sparks past Lockwood and Patrick, and on a spring frost night the map has that stretch running 4°F to 10°F colder than downtown Reno. Wind breaks the pattern up. Washington State's tree fruit people find orchard inversions usually hold only while the wind stays under 3 to 5 mph, and after one spring freeze KTVN's forecasters noted that calm air let cold settle into the valleys while 5 to 10 mph gusts mixed warmer air down.

Reno and Sparks: downtown, the river and the west side

Downtown Reno sits on the Truckee at 4,488 ft and plans for −5°F (6a), and the ground within 3 miles runs from −3°F in its warmest tenth to −5°F in its coldest. Sparks also plans for −5°F (just inside 6b), with a typical winter of +8°F. Hidden Valley, on a toe slope 80 ft above the floor southeast of Sparks, plans for −3°F (6b) and runs 4°F warmer than downtown on a spring frost night. A Reno arborist told the Reno News & Review in 2015 that Hidden Valley is especially good for fruit, and the map backs that up.

West along the river it cools a little. West Reno plans for −6°F, and Ambrose, on the river bottom, −7°F and 4°F colder than downtown in spring. Mogul, farther west on the bottom, plans for −7°F (2°F colder in spring), and Verdi, at the state line, −8°F (3°F colder). Climb out of the river and it flips. Caughlin Ranch, 570 ft above the floor, plans for −2°F (6b), with a typical winter of +10°F, and runs 14°F warmer than downtown on a still spring night, the warmest spring reading of any named place we checked. Somersett, 360 ft up near Mogul, plans for −6°F and runs 12°F warmer. The river bottom from Ambrose to Verdi is apple, haskap and bush fruit ground; Caughlin Ranch and Somersett are where apricots, peaches and sweet cherries have their best shot.

South Reno, Galena and the Mount Rose Highway

The benches climbing toward Mount Rose are some of the mildest winter ground in the Truckee Meadows. Galena, 250 ft above the floor, plans for −3°F (6b) and runs 8°F warmer than downtown in spring, and the Galena station, at 5,000 ft, has a coldest reading of −3°F in 24 years. Arrowcreek, 550 ft up, plans for −3°F and runs 13°F warmer in spring. Most subdivisions here plan for −3°F too: Colina Rosa and Thomas Creek Estates (11°F warmer in spring), Bear Creek (10°F warmer), Whites Creek Estates (8°F warmer), Galena Meadows and Mountaingate. Higher up the numbers slide back: Galena Forest Estates at 5,989 ft −7°F, Sunridge at 7,076 ft −11°F.

The frost season up here is shorter than the winter number suggests. The Galena station's median last 32°F frost is May 24 and its first fall frost October 10, 136 frost free days against 180 at the Reno airport, and KTVN reported a fall morning when Galena, ArrowCreek, Cold Springs and Spanish Springs froze while the airport didn't. Height may be part of it: on breezy or cloudy nights higher ground runs colder, the reverse of a still night. Down along Steamboat Creek, Steamboat plans for −5°F but runs about 5°F colder than downtown on a spring frost night.

The north valleys: Spanish Springs, Sun Valley, Lemmon Valley, Stead and Cold Springs

The valleys north of Reno are their own cold pools. Spanish Springs plans for −10°F (5b), with its floor at −10°F and benches at −6°F, and the Spanish Springs station set its record of −14°F on December 8, 2009. Most subdivisions sit on that flat floor: Pioneer Meadows, Candelara and Silverado −10°F, Wingfield Springs −8°F. The rising ground to the southeast runs 4°F to 6°F milder and 5°F to 11°F warmer in spring: Antelope Ridge Estates −5°F, Singing Hills −4°F (11°F warmer in spring), Chaparral Meritage and Bella Vista −6°F.

Sun Valley, 100 ft above its floor, plans for −6°F (6a). Golden Valley, 150 ft up, plans for −8°F, with a floor of −12°F, and Raleigh Heights, on the slope to the southwest, −5°F and 11°F warmer in spring. Lemmon Valley plans for −10°F (5b), with a floor of −12°F. Stead plans for −11°F, colder than anything the Stead station has recorded since 1995 (−8°F), though the old Stead Air Force Base station read −20°F on January 23, 1962, in a snap that took the Reno airport to −10°F. Cold Springs, northwest of Reno at 5,058 ft, plans for −12°F (5b) and runs 3°F colder than downtown in spring, while Canyon Hills, on the slope to the west, plans for −8°F and runs 6°F warmer. In all of these valleys pears and stone fruit belong on the slopes, not the flats.

Washoe Valley and Carson City

Washoe Valley, under Slide Mountain and Mount Rose, plans milder than you'd guess. New Washoe City, 110 ft above the floor, plans for −6°F (6a) and runs 5°F warmer than downtown Reno in spring, with the floor around it at −9°F. Franktown, on the west side, plans for −8°F. The Washoe Zephyr, the gusty west and southwest wind of summer afternoons, sometimes closes US 395 here to high-profile vehicles, so a windbreak earns its keep.

Carson City, in Eagle Valley at the east edge of the Carson Range, plans for −12°F (5b), with a typical winter of +2°F and its coldest tenth at −14°F. Two NOAA stations here disagree: the long-record Carson City station, at 4,761 ft, has a 30-year number of −16°F and holds −27°F from January 21, 1937, while the automated airport station, with 15 winters, has −7°F. Stewart, on the south side by Prison Hill, plans for −16°F (5a). Lakeview, on the hill at the north end of town 290 ft above the floor, plans for −10°F and runs 7°F warmer than downtown Reno in spring, and Pinion Hills, on the east side, −11°F and 6°F warmer. The Carson City station's median last 32°F frost is May 21 and its first fall frost October 4, 126 frost free days, with frost as late as June 8 in a late year (1 in 10). Put early bloomers on the Lakeview and Pinion Hills slopes, not down by Stewart.

Dayton, Mound House and Virginia City

Dayton sits at a bend in the Carson River at the west end of the Twenty-Six Mile Desert and plans for −10°F (6a). Away from the river to the north and east it eases off, to −6°F at Sutro and −5°F at Six Mile Canyon Ranches. Mound House, on a bench 240 ft up toward Carson City, plans for −8°F and runs 7°F warmer than downtown Reno in spring.

Virginia City, on the east slope of Mount Davidson 530 ft above the nearest low ground, plans for −3°F (6b), with a typical winter of +8°F. The Virginia City station's median last 32°F frost is May 12 and its first fall frost October 21, 157 frost free days, a month more than the Carson City station gets 1,600 ft lower. In the December 1972 cold snap Virginia City set its record of −11°F while Carson City read −18°F.

The Carson Valley: Minden, Gardnerville, Genoa and the benches

Minden plans for −17°F (zone 5a), with a typical winter of −2°F, and within 3 miles even the warmest tenth of the ground is −16°F. Gardnerville plans for −17°F (5a), with benches at −14°F. Centerville, out on the floor, plans for −18°F and runs 2°F colder than downtown Reno in spring, and Bridge House, on the river bottom to the north, −16°F. The Minden station's 30-year number is −17°F, and it read −24°F in the February 1989 cold snap to the Reno airport's −16°F.

The Record-Courier's reports show what the benches are worth. On that January 2023 morning the floor sites read −9°F to −14°F while Fish Springs read 3°F. On a late August morning in 2024, a fog bank on the Carson River south of Muller Lane held 23°F while Minden-Tahoe Airport read 30°F, Sheridan and Fish Springs 36°F and Genoa 39°F.

The map lines up with that. Genoa, Nevada's first permanent settlement, sits 140 ft above the floor on the west edge of the valley and plans for −14°F (5b), runs 3°F warmer than downtown Reno in spring, and has benches at −13°F and a floor of −18°F within 3 miles. Sheridan, south of Genoa, plans for −16°F but runs 4°F warmer in spring. The Gardnerville Ranchos, 100 ft above the floor, plan for −14°F and run 5°F warmer, with the floor around them at −17°F. North toward Carson City, Indian Hills plans for −14°F and Johnson Lane −15°F.

A bench isn't magic, though. The Fish Springs station, at 5,120 ft, has a median last 32°F frost of June 7 and just 111 frost free days, against 126 at the Carson City station, and it read −26°F in the December 1990 cold snap to Minden's −22°F. Benches win on the stillest nights, not every night. Around Minden and Gardnerville and down into South Valley, the floor is apple, haskap and bush fruit ground, and stone fruit and pears go up on the Genoa, Sheridan and Ranchos slopes.

Lake Tahoe: Incline Village, Zephyr Cove, Stateline and South Lake Tahoe

Incline Village, 200 ft above its floor at 6,429 ft, plans for −4°F (6b), with a typical winter of +5°F, and runs 9°F warmer than downtown Reno in spring. Logan Creek plans for −2°F, Lakeridge and Cave Rock Estates −4°F, Glenbrook −5°F, Zephyr Cove −8°F. Kingsbury, 1,510 ft above the floor at 7,516 ft, plans for −6°F. Stateline, on the flat, plans for −11°F. South Lake Tahoe, California, plans for −15°F (5b): Al Tahoe and Bijou −14°F, Tahoe Sierra −15°F, Meadow Lakes −16°F. Its airport station has a 30-year number of −19°F.

Up here the season limits you more than the winter. The Glenbrook station's median last 32°F frost is June 9 and its first fall frost October 11, 132 frost free days; the South Lake Tahoe airport station's are June 21 and August 28, just 64 days. The University of Vermont counts under 135 frost free days (and under 2,000 growing degree days) as short season country, where late apples, pears and grapes may not ripen. The shore slopes are the place for fruit at Tahoe, and the meadows behind South Lake Tahoe are bush fruit ground.

Spring frost and bloom from the Truckee Meadows to the Carson Valley

The spring layer follows the same drainage as winter: on a still bloom night the benches of south and west Reno and the shore slopes at Incline Village, Lakeridge and Cave Rock run 8°F to 14°F warmer than downtown Reno, and the bottoms run up to 10°F colder (8°F at Eureka, between Carson City and Dayton).

Which station you read matters. The Reno airport, at 4,405 ft, has a median last 32°F frost of April 22, a last 28°F of April 10 and 180 frost free days, with the last 32°F as late as May 22 in a late year (1 in 10). The Sparks station, at 4,357 ft, has its last 32°F on May 3 and 149 days. KTVN calls the airport "usually the warmest spot in town," and on one spring morning it read 30°F at 6 am while Reno neighborhoods dropped to the low to mid 20s°F. Plan on frost into May almost anywhere off the airport, and into late May at the Carson City station.

Bloom comes early, and that's the problem. In late February 2015 a freeze shriveled apricot blossoms already open in Reno. On March 27, 2022, Genoa's trees were in bloom the day after Minden set a record 80°F, with a freeze forecast that night. Open blossoms of apple, pear, cherry, peach, apricot and plum all start dying at about 28°F (Michigan State Extension). You don't need every flower, though. About 15 percent of apple blossoms make a crop (University of Minnesota), open haskap flowers take 19°F (University of Saskatchewan), and unless the fruit is clustered, like cherries and grapes, most fruit can lose half its blossoms or more and the frost just thins it.

So go by site. Apricots, peaches and sweet cherries go highest, on ground with a good spring reading. Bob Purvis's rule: an east-facing slope warms fast on a frosty morning, and a north slope holds early bloomers like apricots and plums back. A hedge, fence or tree line across a slope backs cold air up into the trees above it, so open the outlet below. Frost cloth of 0.5, 0.9 and 1.5 oz per square yard gains about 4°F, 6°F and 8°F (Alabama Extension). In fall, ease off water and skip late nitrogen so trees harden off before the October freezes; drip is the only irrigation we advise for fruit trees in dry country.

What the weather records say

Among the record lows at NOAA stations here: −27°F at the long-record Carson City station on January 21, 1937; −24°F at Minden on February 7, 1989; −19°F at Sparks the same day; −17°F at Reno's old Weather Bureau station on January 21, 1916; −16°F at the Reno airport, first on January 2, 1942; −11°F at Virginia City; −6°F at Glenbrook. In mid-January 2013, under strong inversions, NWS Reno noted the Lake Tahoe basin fell below −10°F while Reno stayed in the single digits.

NOAA station records show the worst night in about 30 winters runs a median 13°F below a station's average winter low, which is why our zones read colder than USDA's. USDA's 2023 map puts Carson City's 89701 ZIP in zone 7a (0°F to 5°F) and 89706 in 7b (5°F to 10°F), and moved Gardnerville's 89410 from 7a to 7b (JoAnne Skelly, UNR Extension). USDA builds its zones on the average winter's coldest night; ours put Carson City at −12°F (5b) and Gardnerville at −17°F (5a).

What you can grow here

The coldest named place we checked, Centerville on the Carson Valley floor, plans for −18°F, and the only thing we sell that hasn't come through that is the Chicago Hardy Fig. So choose by site and bloom timing.

Reno, Sparks, the south Reno benches, Washoe Valley, Virginia City and Incline Village: −2°F to −8°F

Everything clears, with room to spare, and Chicago Hardy Fig (−10°F) is a good pick against a south or west wall. On benches with a good spring reading, plant the early bloomers: Goldrich and Tomcot apricots (−30°F), Redstar peach (−25°F), Flavortop nectarine (−20°F) and sweet cherries like Lapins (−35°F), Rainier (−30°F), which likes dry air and cracks where it rains at ripening, and Bing (−20°F). Pears go on the same higher ground: Bartlett (−35°F) and D'Anjou (−30°F). Plums: Italian (−35°F) and Santa Rosa (−20°F). Apples fit anywhere, river bottoms included: Honeycrisp (−45°F), Arkansas Black (−40°F) and Baldwin (−20°F).

Carson City, Dayton, the north valley floors and Stateline: −9°F to −13°F

Chicago Hardy Fig fits at the warm end and is worth a try against a south wall at the cold end. Apples: Zestar!® (−40°F), Liberty (−35°F), Northern Spy (−30°F). Pears on the slopes, not the flats: Summercrisp (−45°F), Harrow Sweet (−30°F). Plums: Superior (−35°F) with Toka (−45°F); Toka is a good pollenizer for Superior, and our pollination maps show other pairings. Tart cherries: Montmorency (−35°F) and Evans Bali (−45°F). On warm spring slopes like Lakeview, Pinion Hills and Mound House: Westcot apricot (−45°F), Blushingstar peach (−30°F), which came through −25°F at our place on January 13, 2024 without damage, and Siberian C peach (−35°F), the hardiest peach we know of.

The Carson Valley floor, Stewart and the South Lake Tahoe meadows: −14°F to −19°F

Winter still isn't the problem; bloom frost and a short season are. On the floor around Minden, Gardnerville, Centerville and Stewart, and in the Tahoe meadows, plant what handles bloom frost best: apples like Haralson (−45°F) and Wealthy (−50°F), Kerr applecrab (−50°F) (if you only plant one tree, make it Kerr or Trailman), honeyberry (−50°F), Montana Black Currant (−50°F), Hinnomaki Red gooseberry (−40°F) and Boyne raspberry (−50°F). Honeyberries, currants, gooseberries and raspberries all came through the 2026 bloom frost well for us. On the Genoa, Sheridan and Ranchos benches, add Ure pear (−45°F), Mount Royal plum (−45°F) and Contender peach (−30°F), which Tom McCamant grows at Forbidden Fruit Orchard in Paradise, Montana.

Roots, soil and local problems

Roots are the weak link. At Ed Schultz's farm in Gallatin Gateway, Montana, Bud 118 apple rootstock has seen near −50°F with no rootstock damage, under snow. A dry high desert floor can take a cold snap with little snow on it, so keep the soil moist going into winter and mulch the root zone. Test drainage before planting (dig 2 ft, fill, let drain, refill: under 10 hours is well drained). Moana Nursery's northern Nevada guide says stone fruit and pears won't take waterlogging, and lists codling moth and fire blight on apples and pears and peach tree borer and peach leaf curl on peaches. The Community Forestry fruit sheet TMWA hosts says to paint trunks with white latex against borers.

Fruit history here

Settlers planted apple orchards on homesteads and ranches in Genoa, Washoe Valley and Reno from the mid 1800s into the early 1900s, and some of those trees still stand, old enough to have lived through the 1937 and 1989 cold snaps. In 2014 Bill Murphy-Sharp of Tea House Gardens in Washoe Valley started the Community Horticulture and Cider Making project to find and restore heritage groves of trees over 75 years old. Neglected apple trees at the Belli Ranch near Mogul got it going, and in 2016 the project picked over 3,200 lb of fruit from 29 trees. The Reno Gleaning Project, which collects backyard fruit for the food bank, says Reno never has a completely fruitless year.

Questions people ask

What growing zone is Reno?

Downtown Reno plans for −5°F, MFTC zone 6a, with a typical winter of +7°F. The north valleys run colder (Spanish Springs −10°F, Cold Springs −12°F) and the south Reno benches milder (Caughlin Ranch −2°F, Galena −3°F). USDA's zones are based on an average winter's coldest night and ours on the bad night we plan for, so ours read colder.

When is the last frost in Reno?

At the Reno airport station the median last 32°F frost is April 22 and the first fall frost October 19, 180 frost free days (1991 to 2020). But the airport is usually the warmest spot in town; the Sparks station's median last frost is May 3 and the Galena station's May 24.

What hardiness zone is Carson City?

USDA's 2023 map puts Carson City's 89701 ZIP in zone 7a and 89706 in 7b. Our map has Carson City planning for −12°F, MFTC zone 5b, with a typical winter of +2°F. The long-record Carson City station has seen −27°F.

Why is the Carson Valley so cold at night?

Cold air drains off the Carson Range and the Pine Nuts onto a wide, nearly flat floor and pools there on clear, calm nights. In the December 2009 cold snap Minden hit −18°F while the Reno airport read −6°F. Minden and Gardnerville plan for −17°F, MFTC zone 5a, while the Genoa and Ranchos benches plan for −14°F.

Can you grow apricots in Reno?

Winter isn't the issue: every apricot we sell has come through −30°F or colder, and downtown Reno plans for −5°F. Bloom is. In late February 2015 a freeze shriveled apricot blossoms already open in Reno. Put apricots on high ground with a good spring reading, like Caughlin Ranch, Somersett, Arrowcreek or Galena, ideally on a north slope that holds bloom back.

Where are the frost pockets around Reno?

The river bottoms and low valley floors. On a still spring night the Truckee at Patrick, east of Sparks, runs 10°F colder than downtown Reno, Lockwood and Ambrose 4°F colder, Cold Springs and Verdi 3°F. In winter the Spanish Springs, Lemmon Valley and Stead floors plan for −10°F to −13°F, against −5°F downtown.

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.