Fruit Trees for Sparta, Tomah and Black River Falls, Wisconsin

On January 30, 1951, NOAA's station at Sparta, Wisconsin read −48°F, and Hatfield, out on the Black River sand plain, read −51°F. The same morning the station on the ridge at Cashton, just south of this map and nearly 600 feet above Sparta, bottomed out at −28°F. That 20°F split between ridge and valley is the story of growing fruit trees for Sparta, Tomah and Black River Falls. This map covers Monroe and Jackson counties in west-central Wisconsin, from Bangor up the La Crosse River to Sparta and Tomah, then north through the cranberry country around Warrens to Black River Falls, Hatfield and Alma Center.

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 (built from NOAA station records since the 1995-96 winter), with a small nudge for the ground right around you. It's a safe planning number, not the record and not a promise of how often it comes. 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 uses. The spring layer shows how many degrees warmer or colder a spot runs than Sparta on a still, clear night at bloom.

Sparta plans for −36°F, MFTC zone 3a, with a typical winter of −21°F. The middle of the map's growing ground plans for −38°F, and half of it falls between −39°F and −36°F. The warm end, −33°F to −34°F, is the bench ground above the lower La Crosse River around Sparta, Bangor, Rockland and Burns. The cold end, −40°F to −41°F, is the Black River bottom at Black River Falls and Irving and the sand plain around Hatfield and Millston.

Why the map looks the way it does

Two kinds of country meet here, and Tomah sits on the seam. To the southwest is the Driftless Area (Monroe County has no glacial deposits at all), Coulee Region ridges standing roughly 300 to 500 feet above flat-bottomed valleys. To the north and east is the bed of Glacial Lake Wisconsin, the Central Sands: flat, sandy, poorly drained ground broken by sandstone mounds that were islands in the lake, with the old bogs turned into cranberry marshes. On a still night the cold air follows the rivers. The La Crosse runs from Fort McCoy past Sparta, Rockland and Bangor to the Mississippi; the Lemonweir starts near Tomah and heads east to the Wisconsin; the Black River runs through Lake Arbutus and over the falls at Black River Falls, then drops only about 1.7 feet per mile.

On a clear, calm night most of a cold pool is made right on the floor as the ground radiates its heat to the sky, and cold sliding off the slopes adds to it, while the ridgetops sit up in warmer air. That's the 1951 split, and it repeats: on February 8, 1971, Hatfield read −44°F, Sparta −34°F and Cashton −21°F. This map is mostly valley and plain, so its warm ground is the benches just above the floors.

The sand plain is the cold heart of the map. Hatfield holds the area's lowest NOAA reading, −51°F (February 1, 1918, and again January 30, 1951), and its average yearly low over 77 years is −34°F, against −25°F at Sparta. A broad, shallow basin can pool harder than a deeper valley that drains. Loose, dry sand and patches of muck and peat hand little heat back on a clear night, where firm, moist soil would. And the marshes sit in the lowest spots: the National Weather Service notes that Wisconsin's cranberry bogs lie lower than the land around them, so cold air drains in at night, and a 1910 Weather Bureau study at Mather, just east of the map, found frost in unflooded marsh soil as late as July 4.

The Black River bottom is just as cold. The town point at Black River Falls, down on the river at 761 feet, plans for −41°F, and so does Irving, 7.7 miles southwest. On January 21, 2025, Black River Falls was the coldest station in Monroe, Jackson, Juneau and La Crosse counties. A river bottom is still a floor, and the 200-acre flowage above the dam is too small to matter; even big lakes help only while they're free of ice.

The La Crosse valley pools too. On the clear, calm night of January 20, 2026, the region's coldest reading was −18°F in the La Crosse River valley, and UW-Madison's CIMSS satellite images showed the coldest ground lining up along the valleys as air chilled on the ridgetops drained down. Since the 1995-96 winter, NOAA's long-record Sparta station has averaged −21°F for the year's coldest night, while the automated station at the Sparta/Fort McCoy airfield, up the valley in Angelo, has averaged −27°F on a shorter record. Sparta sits lower in a valley that keeps falling toward the Mississippi, and the town holds a little heat (the map gives built-up ground up to 2.5°F).

The spring layer follows the same drainage, only sharper, because spring frost pools usually top out 30 to 200 feet above the ground. Rye Bluff Estates, 120 feet above the Black River bottom, plans for −38°F over a floor of −40°F and reads 8°F warmer than Sparta at bloom; the flats go the other way, with Valley Junction 3°F colder. It reads only the lay of the land; the sand plain's regional chill shows in the frost dates. It's a still-night pattern; on a windy night the air mixes and higher ground can come out colder.

Sparta, Angelo and the upper La Crosse valley

Sparta, the Monroe County seat and self-styled Bicycling Capital of America, grew up on the La Crosse River. The town point sits at 784 feet, 10 feet above the floor: −36°F, MFTC 3a, typical winter −21°F. Within 3 miles the floor runs −37°F and the coldest tenth −38°F, while the benches run −33°F, so getting up off the floor buys 4°F. The valley soils are sands and sandy loams over deep sand and gravel, so drainage is rarely the problem.

Upstream it gets colder. Angelo, 2.5 miles northeast in the river bottom at 812 feet, plans for −39°F with a typical winter of −25°F and runs 1°F colder than Sparta at bloom. Farmers Valley, on dead-flat ground 4.4 miles southeast, plans for −39°F and runs 2°F colder. The middle of Fort McCoy, about 60,000 acres between Sparta and Tomah where the Army runs its Cold Weather Operations Course from December to March, plans for about −39°F. Leon, 4.7 miles south, plans for −39°F and runs 2°F colder at bloom, though the benches near it run −34°F.

In town, Haralson and Honeycrisp apples, Toka plum and Evan's Bali tart cherry (all −45°F) would cover a repeat of 1996. Up on the benches at −33°F, Lapins and Gold sweet cherries, Superior plum and Siberian C peach (−35°F) have room.

Bangor, Rockland and Burns, down the La Crosse

Below Sparta the valley keeps dropping toward the Mississippi, flat-bottomed and 1 to 3 miles wide in La Crosse County. Bangor, which the map puts at 741 feet, the lowest town point on it, plans for −37°F and reads 1°F warmer than Sparta at bloom. Rockland, 6 miles below Sparta, and Burns, 8 miles west of Sparta, plan for −37°F too. Around all three the floor runs −37°F, but the benches run −33°F, the warmest ground on the map. Those slopes sit in the thermal belt, the band that stays mildest on still nights. A Hungarian study of 69 clear, calm nights found a valley floor averaging 6.7°F colder than a slope 230 feet above it. On a bench here, Westcot apricot (−45°F) has plenty of room, and Liberty apple and Contender peach (−30°F) are worth a try. Down at West Salem or La Crosse, see our La Crosse and the Driftless map.

Tomah, Woodridge and the Lemonweir divide

Tomah sits between the Driftless hills and the sandy lake bed, on the Wisconsin River side of the divide from Sparta, with the South Fork of the Lemonweir dammed into Lake Tomah on its west side. The town point, at 973 feet, is about 190 feet higher than Sparta, yet it plans for −37°F, MFTC 3a, with a typical winter of −22°F. Height doesn't help when your floor is the edge of the sand plain: within 3 miles the floor runs −39°F and the benches only −36°F. Town sits 20 feet above that floor among buildings, a degree or two warmer, and reads 1°F warmer than Sparta at bloom.

Woodridge, 2 miles north-northwest on a toe slope, plans for −38°F and reads 2°F warmer than Sparta in spring. Tunnel City, 3.6 miles northwest on the ridge the railroad tunneled under in 1858, sits 90 feet above its floor on a 13 percent slope: −37°F and 5°F warmer at bloom. Six miles west, Raymore (60 feet above its floor) and Spring Bank Park (the river bottom 0.6 miles below it) show the idea in miniature: −38°F against −39°F, and 2°F warmer at bloom against even. Valley Junction, 7 miles northeast on a river bottom, plans for −39°F and reads 3°F colder; NOAA's station there recorded −44°F on February 10, 1899.

For a Tomah town lot, Haralson, Honeycrisp, Snowsweet®, Toka and Evan's Bali (−45°F) have room, and Zestar!®, Cortland and Alderman plum (−40°F) clear it by 3°F. Lapins, Gold and Superior (−35°F) are worth a try only on a slope like Woodridge or Tunnel City, or on a south wall in town.

Warrens, Millston and the cranberry marshes

Warrens is the center of Wisconsin's cranberry country. The village sits at 1,020 feet, 50 feet above its floor: −38°F, MFTC 3a, typical winter −23°F, a degree or two warmer than Sparta at bloom. Within 3 miles the floor runs −39°F and the benches −36°F. The best spring reading we found on the map is a steep hillside at Dievsēta, about 5 miles west: 140 feet above its floor on a 22 percent slope, it plans for −36°F and reads 10°F warmer than Sparta at bloom.

Millston, 8.5 miles northwest in the town that holds most of the 68,000-acre Black River State Forest, sits on a river bottom and plans for −41°F, MFTC 2b. Speck Oaks, on flat ground, plans for −39°F and reads 2°F colder than Sparta at bloom.

The marshes tell you where not to plant. In December growers flood the beds and let them freeze solid to protect the vines, and ice holds no heat for the neighbors. The Weather Service's 1980s check of its cranberry forecasts found bogs at 30°F or colder, when 34°F or warmer was forecast, in May of 1979, 1980, 1982 and 1983, and as late as June 12 to 14, 2020, a dew point frost hit vines across the state's cranberry regions. Marsh soil also runs pH 4.0 to 5.5, far below the pH 6 to 7 UW-Madison Extension wants for stone fruit. Plant on the sandy rises, not the peat. Of the apples a pick-your-own farm at Warrens has listed, Spartan, Honeycrisp and Cortland clear −38°F, while Paula Red and Empire (−35°F) are worth a try on a well-drained rise.

Black River Falls, Rye Bluff Estates and Brockway

Black River Falls, the Jackson County seat and headquarters of the Ho-Chunk Nation, sits where the Black River cuts through granite at the northeast edge of the Driftless. The town point is on the river bottom at 761 feet: −41°F, MFTC 2b, typical winter −25°F, 1°F colder than Sparta at bloom. Within 3 miles the floor runs −40°F and the benches −37°F.

Rye Bluff Estates, a mile west at 914 feet, sits 120 feet above its floor on a 6.4 percent slope where cold air drains past: −38°F, 3°F warmer than the bottom, and 8°F warmer than Sparta at bloom. Utah State University says ground 50 to 100 feet above the valley floor is less freeze prone, and Rye Bluff sits higher than that. Across the river, Brockway plans for −39°F and reads 4°F warmer than Sparta in spring. Sheppard, on a 10 percent toe slope, plans for −39°F but reads 6°F warmer at bloom, as does the Winnebago Mission (Mišin) at −39°F, 80 feet above its floor. Lake Wazee, Wisconsin's deepest inland lake, shows no warm shore on the map: −40°F.

In the bottom, plant the −45°F and colder trees: Haralson and Frostbite apples, Kerr and Centennial applecrabs (−50°F; Ed Schultz saw no injury on Centennial in Gallatin Gateway, Montana after a −47°F winter) and Bolshaya pear (−50°F). The slopes at Rye Bluff, Sheppard and the Mission are where apricots like Debbie's Gold (−50°F) belong, since they bloom first.

Irving, Melrose and the lower Black River

Irving, 7.7 miles southwest of Black River Falls at 745 feet, plans for −41°F, MFTC 2b, typical winter −27°F, with its floor at −41°F and its benches at −37°F. Fall Hall Glen, 3 miles away, is a creek draw, the kind of channel that carries cold air down off higher ground: −41°F. Melrose, 13.5 miles southwest of Black River Falls, shows what sitting up off the bottom is worth. The village point is 70 feet above a floor that runs −40°F; it plans for −39°F and reads 5°F warmer than Sparta at bloom. Plant the Irving bottom like Hatfield and Melrose village like Warrens.

Hatfield, Lake Arbutus, Alma Center and Merrillan

Hatfield sits in the pines on Lake Arbutus, an 839-acre Black River impoundment that averages only 16 feet deep, and shallow lakes freeze early and stop helping in midwinter. The village plans for −41°F, MFTC 2b, with a typical winter of −27°F, and there's almost no bench ground within 3 miles. NOAA's station here, kept from 1912 to 2008, recorded −51°F twice and −47°F on January 15, 1963. This is applecrab country first: Trailman and Rescue (−60°F), Kerr, Norda apple and Northern Blue plum (−50°F). If you only plant one tree out here, make it a Kerr or a Trailman.

Alma Center, on Highway 95 at the north edge of the map, plans for −38°F, MFTC 3a, typical winter −24°F, even with Sparta at bloom; its benches run −35°F. Merrillan, 3.7 miles east where Highway 95 meets US 12, sits in a river bottom and plans for −40°F. West of the map on the Trempealeau around Taylor, see our Arcadia, Whitehall and Trempealeau valley map.

Spring frost and bloom around Sparta, Tomah and Black River Falls

NOAA station records for 1991 to 2020: Sparta's median last 32°F is May 10 and its last 28°F April 24, and 1 spring in 10 the last 32°F comes May 21 or later, with 144 frost-free days. Black River Falls runs May 12 and April 27, also 144 days. Mather, in the cranberry country just east of the map, runs May 14 and April 25. Neillsville, north of the map, runs May 17 and May 4 (136 days); the Cashton ridge runs April 26 and April 17 (166 days).

Open blossoms of apple, pear, cherry, peach, apricot and plum all start dying at about 28°F, and 3°F to 4°F can separate no crop from a full one. The warm readings sit up off the floor with a clear way out for the cold: Dievsēta 10°F warmer than Sparta, Rye Bluff Estates 8°F, Sheppard and the Winnebago Mission 6°F, Melrose and Tunnel City 5°F. The cold ones sit low: Valley Junction 3°F colder, Farmers Valley, Leon and Speck Oaks 2°F.

Put apricots, plums, sweet cherries and peaches on slopes that read 4°F or more warmer than Sparta; UW-Madison Extension says apricots crop only 1 or 2 years in 5 in southern Wisconsin because of spring frost. Apples and pears can go lower, since only about 15 percent of apple blossoms need to set for a crop, and most fruit can lose half its bloom with little effect (clustered fruit like cherries and grapes less so). Honeyberry is the low-ground bloomer; its open flowers take 19°F. On frost nights, mow under 2 inches, don't till, and water a day or two ahead. In the fall, the stations off the ridge see their first 28°F between October 5 and October 13, against October 28 on the ridge, so taper water from mid-August.

What the weather records say

• Hatfield (892 feet, 1912 to 2008): −51°F on February 1, 1918, and January 30, 1951; average yearly low −34°F.
• Sparta (782 feet, 1937 to 2023): −48°F on January 30, 1951; average yearly low −25°F.
• Black River Falls (838 feet, 2006 to 2025): −42°F on January 31, 2019; average yearly low −24°F.
• Cashton ridge (1,370 feet, south of the map, 1950 to 2008): −34°F on February 2, 1996; average yearly low −19°F.

The big outbreaks line up the same way, sand plain and valleys cold, ridge mild. January 15, 1963: Hatfield −47°F, Sparta −43°F, Cashton −29°F. January 31, 2019: Black River Falls −42°F, a valley station near Cashton −40°F, Sparta −36°F. That valley reading beat the old ridge station's worst in 33 years on file, so the ridge's warmth belongs to the ridge.

USDA's 2023 map is built on the average winter's coldest night, and it puts most of the Driftless in zone 5a, with a 4b fringe to the north and some 4a patches; this map sits on that northern edge. Sparta's typical winter, −21°F, is a 4b number. Our zones run a full zone or more colder; 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

Benches above the lower La Crosse valley, −33°F to −35°F

Apples: Honeycrisp, Spartan, Zestar!®, Paula Red and Empire. Pears: Luscious and Summercrisp. Plums: Superior and Mount Royal. Lapins and Gold, the hardiest sweet cherries we've found. Westcot apricot, Siberian C peach and Marquette grape. Worth a try at −33°F or warmer: Liberty, Harrow Sweet pear, Stanley plum and Montmorency tart cherry (−30°F).

Valley floors, towns and the sand plain edge, −36°F to −39°F

Sparta, Tomah, Angelo, Warrens, Alma Center, Melrose, Brockway and Rye Bluff Estates. Apples: Haralson, Frostbite, Honeycrisp and Snowsweet® (−45°F), Zestar!® and Cortland (−40°F). Pears: Ure and Cold Snap® (−40°F). Plums: Toka (−45°F), Alderman, La Crescent and Underwood (−40°F); the American hybrids need a pollenizer, and Toka and Kaga pollenize them (see our pollination maps). Tart cherries: Evan's Bali and Meteor. Apricots: Westcot and Morden 604, high up. Bush fruit: Red Lake currant and Boyne raspberry. Worth a try at −36°F to −37°F on a south wall or a draining slope: Lapins, Gold, Superior and Siberian C (−35°F).

Black River bottoms, sand plain hollows and draws, −40°F to −41°F

Black River Falls down on the river, Irving, Fall Hall Glen, Hatfield, Millston and Merrillan. Apples: Haralson, Frostbite and Wolf River (−45°F), Norda and Mantet (−50°F). Applecrabs: Kerr, Centennial, Trailman and Rescue. Pears: Bolshaya and Vekovaya (−45°F). Plums: Northern Blue and Brookgold (−50°F). Cherries: Evan's Bali and FE tart (−45°F), Romeo dwarf (−50°F). Bush fruit: Honeyberry, Montana Black Currant, Aronia Berry and Valiant grape (all −50°F). The −40°F trees fit spots that plan for −40°F and are worth a try at −41°F with snow over the roots.

Roots, rootstocks and site

Dormant apple roots are seriously hurt near 10°F while the wood above takes about −40°F, so roots live on the soil and snow over them. After the snowless 2024-25 winter, UW-Madison's fruit program found apple damage just below the graft union. UW's list for southern Wisconsin includes B.9, M.26, G.935 and M.7; in one published trial G.935's roots took far more cold (half killed at 3°F to −2°F) than M.26's (11°F to 7°F). For the coldest ground, a hardy, vigorous stock earns its keep: at Ed Schultz's farm in Gallatin Gateway, Bud 118 has seen near −50°F under snow with no rootstock damage. UW puts stone fruit on seedling stocks like Manchurian apricot.

Plant on a gentle slope, off the bottom and off the windswept top; Montana State University's target is a 4 to 8 percent grade, and UW-Madison calls valley bottoms frost pockets several degrees colder than nearby hillsides. A hedge or tree line across a slope backs cold air up into the trees above it, so open a gap at the low end. UW wants well-drained sandy loam at pH 6 to 7. On the sand, mulch the root zone and hold snow with a windbreak about 30 to 40 percent dense, since dry soil means more root death. Use drip and taper it from mid-August. Fence for deer, and expect turkey and bear near the Warrens marshes and elk in the Black River State Forest.

Fruit history here

Sparta was a nursery and small-fruit town by 1900. That year's state nursery inspection listed Thayer Fruit Farms, Z.K. Jewett and Co. (apples especially, plus a considerable number of peach trees) and George Hanchett and Son (strawberries especially). At Black River Falls, Henry Lake Sons Co. grew apple trees extensively. The statewide apple list that year included Wealthy and Northwestern Greening, both still on ours.

Alma Center was the Midwest's leading strawberry shipping point by the early 1900s. The Strawberry Fest has run every June since 1945, though by 2024 only two growers were left; Honeoye strawberry has come through −50°F for a backyard patch. Then there are cranberries: commercial growing moved from Berlin to Cranmoor in the early 1890s, then spread to Black River Falls, Warrens and Tomah. Russell Rezin and Son has farmed its Warrens marsh since 1918, and Wood, Monroe and Jackson counties now have the most cranberry acreage in the state.

Questions people ask

What growing zone is Sparta, WI?

Sparta plans for −36°F, MFTC zone 3a, with a typical winter of −21°F, a USDA 4b number. USDA's zone is based on an average winter, ours on the bad night we plan for; Sparta's station read −41°F in February 1996.

What zone is Black River Falls, WI?

Down on the river, Black River Falls plans for −41°F, MFTC zone 2b, with a typical winter of −25°F. Rye Bluff Estates, a mile west and 120 feet above its floor, plans for −38°F (3a).

When is the last frost in Sparta and Tomah?

Sparta's median last 32°F is May 10 and its last 28°F April 24 (NOAA station records, 1991 to 2020); 1 spring in 10, the last 32°F comes May 21 or later. Tomah has no long-record station, but on the map it reads about 1°F warmer than Sparta on a still bloom night.

What fruit trees grow in Tomah, Wisconsin?

Tomah plans for −37°F, MFTC zone 3a. Haralson, Honeycrisp and Frostbite apples, Toka plum and Evan's Bali tart cherry have come through −45°F, and Zestar!®, Cortland, Ure pear and Alderman plum through −40°F. Lapins, Gold and Superior (−35°F) are worth a try on a slope like Woodridge or Tunnel City.

Why are the cranberry marshes and the sand plain so cold?

The plain is broad and flat, sand and peat hand little heat back on a clear night, and the marshes sit lower than the land around them, so cold air drains in. Hatfield holds the area's record, −51°F.

Can you grow peaches or apricots in west-central Wisconsin?

Apricots, yes: Debbie's Gold (−50°F) and Westcot (−45°F) clear even the coldest ground here, but UW-Madison Extension says they crop only 1 or 2 years in 5, so plant them high. Peaches are a stretch: Siberian C (−35°F) fits only the benches around Sparta and Bangor, and UW says peach fruit buds usually die at 0°F, so count on the tree before the 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.