Fruit Trees for Springfield, Hartford, West Hartford and Enfield, Massachusetts and Connecticut

On May 18, 2023, a frost settled over Connecticut's orchards before dawn, and some farms sat in the mid to low 20s°F for up to five hours. At Rogers Orchards in Southington, on the southwest edge of this map, the ridgetop blocks came through fairly well while the valley-bottom blocks lost about 20 to 80 percent of their crop. That's the story with fruit trees for Springfield, Hartford, West Hartford and Enfield. Nearly everything we sell has come through worse winters than this, and where you plant decides how often it fruits.

This microclimate map covers the Connecticut River Valley from Westfield, Springfield and Wilbraham in Western Massachusetts down to Hartford, Glastonbury and New Britain, with the Farmington Valley on the west and the Tolland County hills on the east. 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 spot gets four readings. The planning low is the cold to plan a tree around, the same 30-year number our cold hardiness calculator uses, built from NOAA station records since the 1995-96 winter, with a light nudge for the ground right around you. It leans safe and it isn't a record. The MFTC zone puts it in half zones. The typical winter is an average year's coldest night, what USDA zones are built on, so it reads milder. The spring reading compares your spot with downtown Hartford on a still, clear night at bloom.

Downtown Hartford plans for −12°F, MFTC zone 5b, with a typical winter of 1°F. Half the growing ground on the map plans between −18°F and −14°F, with the middle at −16°F. The mild end is Hartford's Fairfield Avenue historic district at −9°F (6a); the cold end is the hollows of the Tolland County hills, like Mansfield Depot at −24°F (4b). Bloom night spreads wider than winter, from 12°F warmer than downtown Hartford on the ridges to 12°F colder in the worst draw we checked.

Why the map looks the way it does

The Connecticut River runs down the middle on the bed of Glacial Lake Hitchcock, which a moraine at Rocky Hill once dammed, and it's tidal up to Enfield Rapids at Windsor Locks. West of it stands the traprock Metacomet Ridge: Talcott Mountain (950 ft at its high point, with western cliffs up to 700 ft above the land below), West Suffield Mountain, and Provin and East mountains west of Springfield. Behind Talcott lies the Farmington Valley, whose river gets through the ridge only at the Tariffville Gorge. East of the river the land climbs into the Wilbraham Mountains and Connecticut's eastern hills. NOAA's climate write-up for the Bradley airport station sums up what happens in between: on clear nights cool air drains into the valley, and in winter cold air gets trapped there.

Winters are mildest at the south end of the valley, where Hartford, Wethersfield, Rocky Hill and Glastonbury plan for −11°F to −12°F, and the numbers fall going north toward Springfield (−16°F) and Westfield (−18°F) and east into the hills. Over 65 years the Brainard Field station, on Hartford's South Meadows at 20 ft, ran a median 3°F warmer on the year's coldest night than the Bradley airport station, on a slight rise 169 ft up and about 3 miles west of the river. The old Coventry station, at 480 ft in the hills, ran a median 12°F colder than Brainard.

What counts is height above your own low ground, not above sea level. In the January 1961 cold snap, Storrs, at 665 ft on the east edge of the map, read −5°F, while the Mansfield Hollow Lake station, about 400 ft lower, read −27°F and Coventry −32°F, its coldest on record. On a still, clear night the coldest air settles into the hollows and a milder layer sits above it. The eastern hills are full of small valleys, so their bottoms are the coldest ground of any place we checked, while hilltops like Reed Hill, 380 ft above its floor, plan for −18°F. Inside Springfield, Sixteen Acres sits at 233 ft but only 30 ft above its own flat floor and plans for −18°F. Six Corners sits lower, at 193 ft, but 130 ft above the river flats, and plans for −15°F.

Towns hold heat on still nights. The old Springfield station (190 ft) read −5°F in the January 1948 cold snap while the Westover Field station in Chicopee hit −21°F. The map credits built-up ground with up to 2.5°F; the rest of a gap like that comes down to station sites the records don't describe. Deep arctic air flattens all of this. On Feb 14, 2016 the order flipped: the Burlington station, 505 ft up, read −25°F while Bradley read −12°F and the Brainard stations −9°F. That night higher ground ran colder, and our planning numbers draw on both kinds of night.

The spring layer runs the same drainage at full strength, so it spreads wider: 9°F to 12°F warmer than downtown Hartford on the traprock ridges and high hills, 4°F to 7°F colder on the river meadows, and 11°F to 12°F colder in the worst draws. No lake here is big enough to help. Congamond, beside the Congamond Lakes in Southwick, sits in a low spot and reads 7°F colder than downtown.

Hartford: the river meadows and the high ground

Downtown Hartford, on the old floodplain at 60 ft, plans for −12°F (5b), and most of the city stays between −11°F and −13°F. What changes block to block is bloom night. Coltville and the old Colt district, down by the river at 20 ft, read 5°F colder than downtown on a still spring night, and Frog Hollow 4°F colder. The North and South Meadows are the same low ground, and they flood (the March 1936 flood crested at 37.6 ft at Hartford). The high ground is where early bloomers belong. Upper Prospect Avenue, the city's high point by the Governor's residence in the West End, plans for −11°F and reads 4°F warmer; Blue Hills reads 3°F warmer; and the Fairfield Avenue historic district, 130 ft above the floor on the south side, plans for −9°F (6a), the mildest place we checked, and reads 5°F warmer.

West Hartford, Newington and New Britain

West Hartford Center, on the valley floor at 133 ft, plans for −13°F (5b) and reads about 1°F warmer than downtown Hartford at bloom. The town tilts up to the west toward the Metacomet Ridge, and the higher ground is the better fruit ground: West Hill plans for −11°F and reads 2°F warmer, Johnson Hill −11°F and 6°F warmer, and Killkenny Rocks, up on the ridge west of town, −13°F and 12°F warmer. The draws run cold. Whitings Corner and Foote Corners read 5°F to 6°F colder than downtown, and Fernridge Place, 20 ft above the floor, 9°F colder. Elmwood plans for −13°F and reads 2°F colder.

New Britain sits on a bench 100 ft above its floor at −12°F (5b) and reads 2°F warmer; Little Poland, higher up, reads 3°F warmer. Newington plans for −13°F and reads 2°F colder, but Cedar Mountain, just east of its center, is one of the mildest spots on the map: −10°F (6a), and 9°F warmer at bloom on a steep slope 200 ft above the floor. Berlin plans for −13°F and reads 2°F warmer.

Wethersfield, Rocky Hill, Glastonbury and East Hartford

The south end has the mildest winters on the map and plenty of frosty river floor. Old Wethersfield plans for −11°F (5b) at 40 ft but reads 4°F colder than downtown Hartford at bloom, and the Cove and the Great Meadows beside it are the same low ground. Wolcott Hill, southwest of the old village and 120 ft above the floor, plans for −9°F (6a) and reads 5°F warmer. Rocky Hill, on the moraine that dammed Lake Hitchcock, plans for −11°F and reads 1°F warmer. Glastonbury shows the whole pattern. Its river ground at 47 ft plans for −11°F and reads 3°F colder, South Glastonbury and Welles Village 4°F to 5°F colder, and then the land climbs into the foothills where the orchards are, with Town Woods Hill (513 ft) at −11°F and 9°F warmer and Clark Hill (693 ft) at −12°F and 10°F warmer. East Hartford is mostly river bottom; it plans for −12°F and reads 4°F colder, while Mayberry Village, on higher ground on its east side, plans for −11°F and reads 5°F warmer.

Springfield, Longmeadow and East Longmeadow

Springfield sits on the east bank where the Westfield River comes in from the west and the Mill River from the east, with the Chicopee River joining just north of the city. Metro Center, the North End, the South End and Brightwood lie on the river flats at 60 ft to 67 ft, about 10 ft above the floor; they plan for −16°F to −18°F (5a) and read 5°F colder than downtown Hartford at bloom. Then the land climbs onto the terrace where the first settlers built, with bluffs over the river at Maple High and the Quadrangle. Six Corners plans for −15°F (5b) and reads 3°F warmer than downtown Hartford, the Ames Hill-Crescent Hill and Upper Worthington historic districts read 6°F warmer, and Forest Park plans for −15°F and reads 2°F warmer. McKnight, Old Hill and Liberty Heights, also up on the terrace, plan for −15°F but read 2°F to 3°F colder, and farther east Sixteen Acres (−18°F) and Boston Road (−20°F) sit on flatter, colder ground.

Longmeadow, on a terrace 110 ft above the river, plans for −15°F (5b) and reads 3°F warmer. Its dingles, the steep sandy ravines with wet bottoms that cut through town, are draws that carry cold air toward the river, so keep apricots and plums on the flats between them. East Longmeadow, on flat ground at 220 ft, plans for −16°F and reads 4°F colder. For Holyoke, Ludlow and the valley north of here, the Northampton, Greenfield and Pioneer Valley map covers you.

West Springfield, Agawam, Westfield and Southwick

The west bank runs flatter and colder. West Springfield's center plans for −17°F (5a) and reads 3°F colder than downtown Hartford at bloom, while Mittineague, 130 ft above the floor, plans for −15°F and reads about even. Agawam plans for −16°F, and Feeding Hills, on flat ground toward the Southwick line, reads 5°F colder. Provin Mountain, Agawam's high point on the narrowest stretch of the traprock ridge, plans for −13°F and reads 12°F warmer. Westfield, the Whip City, sits on the Westfield River's floodplain where the river leaves the Berkshire Hills. The center plans for −18°F (5a) with a typical winter of −8°F, and the Westfield-Barnes airport station (264 ft) has a median last 32°F of May 8 and a 156-day frost free season. Springfield Hill, on a bench east of the center, plans for −16°F and reads 1°F warmer. Southwick, the old "Poverty Plains," plans for −17°F and reads 5°F colder; Congamond, down by the lakes, −18°F and 7°F colder; Southwick Hill, 150 ft up, −14°F and 8°F warmer.

Enfield, Suffield, Windsor Locks and Windsor

Enfield's center sits on a bench 100 ft above the floor at −15°F (5b) and reads 2°F warmer than downtown Hartford. Thompsonville, Hazardville and Scitico plan for −16°F to −17°F and read about even with downtown, and Sherwood Manor reads 5°F colder. Across the river, the Suffield historic district, around Meeting House Hill 100 ft above the floor, plans for −16°F and reads 5°F warmer, while Suffield Depot, a quarter mile west and about 60 ft lower, reads 3°F colder. West Suffield Mountain plans for −13°F and reads 11°F warmer, and King Hill and Hastings Hill 7°F warmer. This is old shade tobacco ground, and the valley's river soil is a rich sandy loam. Windsor Locks, where Bradley sits, plans for −16°F and reads about 1°F colder; Bradley's 1991 to 2020 median last 32°F is April 18, with 176 frost free days. Broad Brook, in a draw across the river, reads 9°F colder. Windsor's center plans for −14°F (5b). The Windsor Farms historic district, down on the river floor at 20 ft, reads 7°F colder, while Day Hill, the town's high point, plans for −13°F and reads 7°F warmer. Poquonock and Rainbow, on river-bottom ground, plan for −18°F and −17°F; both were evacuated in the 1955 Farmington River flood.

The Farmington Valley: Farmington, Avon, Simsbury and Granby

West of Talcott Mountain the Farmington River turns sharply near Farmington center and runs north through Avon and Simsbury before cutting east through the ridge at the Tariffville Gorge. The valley floor collects cold: within 3 miles of Farmington the floor's median is −17°F and the benches' −13°F. Unionville, in a cold-air channel, plans for −18°F and reads 6°F colder than downtown Hartford at bloom; Avon −17°F and 3°F colder; Weatogue −18°F and 5°F colder; Simsbury −17°F and 5°F colder; Canton Center, in a draw, −19°F and 7°F colder. The ridge side is warm. Farmington itself, on a slope 70 ft above the floor, plans for −14°F (5b) and reads 1°F warmer, East Farmington Heights −12°F and 6°F warmer, Avon Mountain −13°F and 9°F warmer, and Talcott Mountain near its crest −13°F and 11°F warmer. Up in Granby the center plans for −18°F and reads 4°F colder, and Mechanicsville, in a draw, reads 12°F colder, the coldest spring reading of any place we checked, while Bushy Hill (480 ft) plans for −16°F and reads 7°F warmer. In May 2026 a late frost into the 20s°F killed young apple buds at Clark Farms in Granby, and bears have taken Granby peaches three years running.

Manchester, Vernon, Wilbraham and the eastern hills

East of the river the ground climbs in steps. Manchester's center, on a bench 100 ft above its floor, plans for −14°F (5b) and reads 2°F warmer than downtown Hartford, while the Cheney silk district, lower down, reads 5°F colder and Birch Mountain, southeast of town at 753 ft, plans for −16°F and reads 12°F warmer. Rockville, on a hillside at 400 ft, plans for −18°F and reads 6°F warmer, and Vernon Center, in a draw, −19°F and 6°F colder. Ellington, on flat ground, plans for −18°F and reads 4°F colder.

Past Vernon, the Tolland County hills are where the winter number starts to trim the list. Tolland plans for −21°F (4b) and Andover −22°F, and the hollows run colder: West Stafford −23°F and 11°F colder than downtown Hartford at bloom, West Willington −23°F, Mansfield Depot −24°F. The hilltops plan cold too but read warm at bloom: Bolton (760 ft) −19°F and 6°F warmer, Reed Hill (900 ft) −18°F and 10°F warmer. Connecticut forecaster Brad Field put it plainly ahead of an October 2017 frost: the rural low spots frost first, because cold air sinks into valleys and bogs on clear nights.

Across the state line, Wilbraham is built along the western face of the Wilbraham Mountains. The center, on the floor at 287 ft, plans for −19°F and reads 3°F colder. The town was famous for peaches grown on the mountain slopes above it, and Rice Fruit Farm still sits at the foot of the mountain. Hampden village plans for −20°F (4b), but the hills south of it, Rattlesnake Hill, Pine Mountain and The Pinnacle (890 ft to 1,060 ft), plan for −17°F to −18°F and read 11°F to 12°F warmer at bloom.

Spring frost and bloom in the Connecticut River Valley

Nearly everything we sell has come through colder than this map's −9°F to −24°F, so the spring map does most of the sorting, and it doesn't line up with winter. Old Wethersfield has one of the mildest winters on the map and reads 4°F colder than downtown Hartford at bloom; Tolland plans for −21°F and reads 5°F warmer. The river meadows are mild in January and frosty in May, and the traprock ridge and the Glastonbury hills do well on both counts.

NOAA station records for 1991 to 2020 put the longest seasons at Hartford's two Brainard stations, on the South Meadows at 13 ft to 20 ft: a median last 32°F of April 11 to 13, a first fall 32°F of October 19 to 25, and 188 to 191 frost free days. Bradley's last 32°F comes April 18, and May 13 or later one spring in ten. Springfield has no frost record of its own for those years; the Westfield-Barnes airport station gets May 8. On the east edge, Storrs at 665 ft gets 188 frost free days while the Willimantic Windham airport station, about 400 ft lower, gets 158. Brainard's long season says the south end of the valley runs mild, not that river ground is safe; the spring layer is a terrain model that stations can't check in draws or on benches, so read it as the order the ground frosts in on a still night.

After the May 18, 2023 frost the governor asked for a federal disaster declaration for all eight Connecticut counties, and the state counted 677 acres lost. Scott's Orchard in Glastonbury lost about 30 percent of its blueberries, though its apples came through.

Site comes first; the FAO's frost protection manual calls it the single most important method of frost protection. Open blossoms of apple, pear, cherry, peach, apricot and plum start dying near 28°F (Michigan State's fruit people), though only about 15 percent of apple blossoms need to set for a crop (University of Minnesota), and open haskap flowers take 19°F (University of Saskatchewan). So apricots, peaches, sweet cherries, plums and almonds go on ground that reads warmer than downtown Hartford, the higher the better, and pears stay off the frosty bottoms. Apples, haskap, currants and gooseberries can take the lower ground. UConn and our friend Bob Purvis agree a north-facing slope holds bloom back, and a hedge or tree line across a slope backs cold air into the trees above it. Most fruit can lose half its blossoms and barely notice; clustered fruit like cherries and grapes has less to spare.

What the weather records say

The coldest readings in NOAA station records here are old. Bradley hit −26°F on Jan 22, 1961, the cold snap that took Coventry to −32°F. Brainard Field bottomed out at −24°F on Feb 16, 1943, and the old Springfield station at −18°F, in 1917, 1934, 1943 and later. Since the 1995-96 winter, which our numbers are built from, Brainard's coldest is −10°F (Jan 7, 2018) and Bradley's −13°F (1995-96), so the −12°F planning low for downtown Hartford sits about 2°F below anything Brainard has seen in that span. It isn't a floor: the Burlington station hit −25°F on Feb 14, 2016, well below its own planning number of −17°F.

The cold that costs fruit usually isn't the deepest. On Feb 4, 2023, Massachusetts lost its entire peach crop at −14°F, according to UMass's Jon Clements, and peach buds died across Connecticut, with over 1,000 acres of fruit hit. In 2016, after February and March cold snaps, growers feared 75 to 80 percent of the state's peaches were gone. Those buds died well above what our peach trees have come through.

USDA's map reads warmer than ours because it's built on the average winter; sources put Hartford at 6b to 7a (Wikipedia) or 6a to 6b (Gardenia's guide to the 2023 map), against our MFTC zone 5b. NOAA's write-up also warns of hail from thunderstorms that build over the Berkshires and cross the valley.

What you can grow around Springfield and Hartford

Most of our list clears winter everywhere on this map; everything rated −25°F or colder clears even Mansfield Depot, the coldest place we checked. So choose by site and bloom. UConn notes that peaches and tart cherries set fruit on their own pollen while most others need a pollenizer; our pollination maps sort that out, and Toka is a good pollenizer for Superior.

Hartford, the south end and the ridges: −15°F or warmer

Hartford, West Hartford, Wethersfield, Rocky Hill, Glastonbury, East Hartford, New Britain, Windsor, Enfield's bench, Longmeadow and Springfield's Hill. The −20°F trees clear with room to spare: Bing cherry, Santa Rosa plum, Flavortop nectarine and Baldwin apple. So do Redstar and Glowingstar peaches, Stella cherry, Hardired nectarine, SnowCzar almond and Montana Trial Persimmon (all −25°F), along with apricots like Harlayne and Tomcot, Shiro plum, Seckel pear and apples like Roxbury Russet and Northern Spy. Chicago Hardy Fig (−10°F) is worth a try against a south wall; it clears outright only at the Fairfield Avenue district, Wolcott Hill and Cedar Mountain. Keep the stone fruit on ground that reads warm at bloom and the river meadows for apples and bush fruit.

Springfield's flats, the west bank and the Farmington Valley: −15°F to −19°F

West Springfield, Agawam, Westfield, Southwick, Windsor Locks, Suffield, the Farmington Valley, Vernon, Ellington and Wilbraham. The −20°F trees still clear; the difference is bloom night, with most of this ground reading 3°F to 7°F colder than downtown Hartford. On the floor, plant apples like Honeycrisp, Liberty, Macoun and Zestar!®, Montmorency and Evans Bali tart cherries, and bush fruit: honeyberry (haskap), Red Lake currant, Montana Black Currant and Pixwell gooseberry. Save Contender and Veteran peaches, Westcot apricot, Lapins cherry, Superior and Toka plums and Bartlett and Clapp's Favorite pears for the benches and hills. 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.

The eastern hollows, Hampden and Monson: −20°F to −24°F

Everything rated −25°F or colder is still a good pick. The −20°F group (Bing, Santa Rosa, Flavortop, Baldwin) clears on the higher hilltops like Reed Hill and the Hampden hills (−17°F to −19°F) and is only worth a try down in the hollows. Give the hollow floors apples, haskap and currants, and put Siberian C peach (−35°F), Debbie's Gold apricot and Marquette grape on the hilltops that read 9°F to 12°F warmer.

Everywhere, plant on a slope, off the bottom and off a windswept top; UConn and Montana State both put the best grade at 4 to 8 percent. Give trees at least 6 hours of sun (8 to 10 is better) and test drainage: dig 2 ft, fill, let it drain, refill, and under 10 hours is well drained. UConn wants apples at pH 6.0 to 6.5 and blueberries near 4.8, so our Cold Climate Blueberry Bundle wants a bed of its own. Mulch the roots where snow doesn't stay. Watch for fire blight (UConn names it), black bears in Granby's peaches and floods on the river bottoms.

Fruit history in the valley

J. H. Hale started his Glastonbury orchard on one acre in 1866 and had over 1,200 acres by 1900; the "Peach King" developed a peach that could survive New England winters. Wilbraham's Rice's Fruit Farm opened in 1894 and grew the peaches for the town's Peach Festival, begun in 1985. The Westfield Seek-No-Further apple seems to have started in or near Westfield in 1796 or earlier, and Pumpkin Sweet, also called Pound Sweet, came from S. Lyman's orchard in Manchester, recorded in 1834. Shade tobacco, grown under cloth from 1900, once covered over 20,000 acres of the valley, and Wethersfield was "Oniontown."

Questions people ask

What growing zone is Hartford, CT?

Downtown Hartford plans for −12°F, MFTC zone 5b, with a typical winter of 1°F. USDA-style listings read warmer because they're built on the average winter: Wikipedia lists Hartford as 6b to 7a, and Gardenia's guide to the 2023 USDA map gives 6a to 6b. Hartford's high ground, like upper Prospect Avenue and the Fairfield Avenue district, plans for −9°F to −11°F, while the Farmington Valley floor west of the city mostly runs −17°F to −18°F.

What growing zone is Springfield, MA?

Metro Center and the North and South Ends plan for −16°F, MFTC zone 5a, and Hill neighborhoods like Six Corners and Forest Park −15°F (5b). Sixteen Acres and Boston Road plan for −18°F to −20°F. Our typical winter for downtown Springfield is −3°F, the kind of average USDA zones are built on, so USDA's zone reads warmer than ours.

When is the last frost in Hartford?

NOAA station records for 1991 to 2020 give Hartford's Brainard Field station, on the river meadows, a median last 32°F of April 13 and a last 28°F of April 1, with the last 32°F coming April 27 or later one year in ten. The Bradley airport station runs later: April 18, and May 13 or later one year in ten. On May 18, 2023 some Connecticut farms sat in the mid to low 20s°F for up to five hours.

Can you grow peaches around Hartford and Springfield?

Yes. Every peach we sell, from Redstar and Glowingstar (−25°F) to Siberian C (−35°F), clears the planning low at every named place on this map, and J. H. Hale had over 1,200 acres of peaches in Glastonbury by 1900. The risk is the crop: in February 2023 the flower buds froze across Connecticut and Massachusetts, and Scott's Orchard in Glastonbury lost its whole peach crop. Plant peaches on high ground that reads warm at bloom, like the Glastonbury hills, Provin Mountain or the hills in Suffield.

Where are the frost pockets around Hartford and Springfield?

The coldest spring readings we found are in draws and bottoms: Mechanicsville in Granby reads 12°F colder than downtown Hartford on a still night, West Stafford and Spoonville in East Granby 11°F colder, and Broad Brook and Fernridge Place in West Hartford 9°F colder. The river meadows at Windsor, Hartford, Wethersfield and Springfield read 4°F to 7°F colder, and the Farmington Valley floor 3°F to 7°F colder. The traprock ridges and high hills read 9°F to 12°F warmer.

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.