Fruit Trees for Utica, Rome, Herkimer and the Mohawk Valley, New York

In the January 1994 cold snap, NOAA's old Griffiss Air Force Base station on the Rome flats bottomed out at −31°F. The Mill Street station down in the gorge at Little Falls read −11°F. That's 20°F inside one valley, and it's why picking fruit trees for Utica, Rome, Herkimer and the Mohawk Valley comes down to where on the land you put them.

The map runs from Sherrill and Oneida Castle east through Rome, Whitesboro and Utica to Herkimer, Ilion and Little Falls, north up West Canada Creek to Trenton, Remsen and Hinckley Reservoir, and south up the Oriskany and Sauquoit valleys to Clinton, New Hartford and the Paris hills, across Oneida, Herkimer and Madison counties in Central New York. Type your address in the box on the map to get the number for your own place, and the list of what we sell that has come through it.

How to read this map

The big number at any spot is its 30-year planning low, the bad winter night we'd plan a tree around. It runs cautious, so treat it as a safe number to plan for, not a promise of how often that night 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 is built on), and the spring layer shows how much warmer or colder a spot runs than downtown Utica on a still, clear night at bloom.

Downtown Utica, the reference town, plans for −26°F (MFTC 4a, typical winter −11°F). The middle of the growing ground plans for −28°F, the coldest 5 percent −31°F or colder and the warmest 5 percent −26°F or warmer. The warm end is hill ground like Sand Hill and Bell Hill at −25°F (MFTC 4b); the cold end is west of Utica, where Bartlett, Westmoreland and Walesville plan for −31°F (MFTC 3b). None of the stations with records since 1995 has read as cold as its own 30-year number: the Rome airfield station bottomed out at −28°F on February 14, 2016 against −29°F, and the Oneida County Airport station's coldest in its 11 winters since 1995 was −21°F against −28°F.

Why the map looks the way it does

The Mohawk comes down from north-central Oneida County through Delta Lake, turns east south of Rome and runs down a wide floodplain past Utica to Herkimer, then drops 45 feet in less than a mile through the narrow, rocky gorge at Little Falls. Rome sits on the old divide. The Oneida Carrying Place was the portage over to Wood Creek, which runs west to Oneida Lake, and the Erie Canal's summit at Rome is only about 420 feet up. Side valleys feed the trough: West Canada Creek from the north, Oriskany Creek past Clinton, Sauquoit Creek down from Paris and Moyer Creek through Frankfort Gorge. The floor sits at about 400 to 450 feet, and the hills on either side top out around 1,500 to 1,850 feet.

On a clear, calm night that trough fills with cold, and it fills hardest at the west end. A pool's cold is mostly made right on the flats, and a wide, flat basin without much downhill outlet, like the Rome flats on the old carry, can pool harder than a valley that drains. We haven't found a local source that says so, but the old Griffiss station (519 feet) fits it: −27°F in the March 1950 cold snap while the Utica station read −14°F, and −26°F in December 1955 to Utica's −15°F. On the map the floor within 3 miles of Rome plans for −30°F and around Oriskany −31°F, against −27°F around Herkimer and −26°F around Little Falls.

The gorge is the opposite. The Mill Street station at Little Falls, at 360 feet the lowest station here, was the mildest in most of the big outbreaks: −22°F in the January 1957 snap while Griffiss read −26°F and the Oneida County Airport −28°F. The city reservoir station, 893 feet up and 2 miles away, ran a median 3°F colder on the year's coldest night. We haven't found a published reason. The rock walls may hide part of the sky, and the cold draining off the whole upper valley has to keep moving through this one gap, and a spot stays mild only while cold keeps moving past it. Within 3 miles of Little Falls the warmest tenth of the growing ground plans for −23°F, the warmest near any town we checked.

Above the pool sits a thermal belt. Within 3 miles of downtown Utica the benches 100 to 700 feet up plan for −26°F against −29°F on the floor, and around Herkimer −25°F against −27°F. Hills 500 to 700 feet over the floor, like Marcy Hill north of Utica and Steuben Hill north of Ilion, plan for −25°F and read 10°F warmer than downtown Utica at bloom. A Hungarian study of 69 clear, calm nights found a valley floor averaging 6.7°F colder than a slope 230 feet above it. The belt fails when arctic air comes in on a wind. In the February 1943 cold snap Salisbury (1,381 feet) read −33°F, the Little Falls reservoir (893 feet) −30°F and Mill Street (360 feet) −25°F, colder with every step up, which fits that kind of night.

North of the valley the land climbs toward the Adirondack foothills and the Tug Hill, and it's colder country. Remsen and Hinckley, at about 1,200 feet, plan for −30°F with a typical winter of −16°F. The old Hinckley station, 2 miles southwest of the hamlet at 1,141 feet, ran a median 14°F colder on the year's coldest night than the Oneida County Airport station over 21 years, and it hit −40°F on February 18, 1979, the same date the Utica station set its record of −28°F. Its record ends in 1991, before the winters our numbers are built on, so near the reservoir plan colder than the map shows. We haven't found a published explanation. Air over deep snow runs colder, and the reservoir's watershed gets heavy winter snow, so that may be part of it.

Water doesn't help much here. Delta Lake freezes well enough for ice fishing, and a lake shelters its shore only while it's relatively free of ice. The Great Lakes send snow instead (Utica gets lake-effect snow off Lake Ontario and Lake Erie and averages 101.8 inches), and snow over the roots is the best insulation a tree gets. Wet, closed-in ground runs cold: Utica Marsh between the canal and the river, the peat bogs about 50 feet below the dunes in the Rome Sand Plains, and the kettles along Oriskany Creek at Clinton. We haven't found a local source that calls them frost pockets, but low, peaty hollows are where a still night's cold settles.

Downtown Utica, Deerfield and Marcy

Downtown Utica sits at about 454 feet on a toe slope 50 feet above the floor, where the Mohawk spreads into a wide floodplain. It plans for −26°F, as warm as the warmest tenth of the growing ground within 3 miles, while the floor around it plans for −29°F. A little height and town heat do that; masonry and pavement store warmth and buildings hide the sky. The Parkway neighborhoods on the south side climb toward the plateau (Roscoe Conkling Park even has a ski hill with a chair lift), rising ground that should run more like the benches than the floor. Out past West Utica and the Brewery District toward New York Mills, Burrstone Hill, 180 feet above the floor, plans for −26°F and reads 5°F warmer than downtown at bloom, and Harts Hill 6°F warmer.

North of the river it's low again. Deerfield hamlet plans for −27°F and reads 1°F colder than downtown at bloom, and Marcy hamlet, on the flats, −27°F and 2°F colder. Climb and it pays: Marcy Hill (1,280 feet) plans for −25°F and reads 10°F warmer, and Bell Hill, at about 1,570 feet, −25°F (MFTC 4b) and 12°F warmer. On a downtown or Parkway lot, trees rated −30°F fit with room to spare: Liberty apple (−30°F), one of Cornell's scab-resistant picks, Harrow Sweet pear (−30°F), Stanley plum (−30°F), Harlayne apricot (−30°F) and Contender peach (−30°F). Keep the stone fruit off the Deerfield and Marcy flats.

New Hartford, Chadwicks and the Sauquoit Valley

Sauquoit Creek runs 17 miles from Paris down the Sauquoit Valley to the Mohawk at Whitesboro, and the cold off the Paris hills rides it down. Clayville, at about 970 feet, plans for −30°F (MFTC 3b) and reads 6°F colder than downtown Utica at bloom; Sauquoit −29°F and 4°F colder; Chadwicks, on the floor at 708 feet, −30°F and 5°F colder. It eases downstream. Washington Mills, in a draw 110 feet above the floor, plans for −28°F and reads even with downtown at bloom, New Hartford −28°F (MFTC 4a, typical winter −13°F) and 2°F colder, and New York Mills −28°F and 1°F colder.

The hills are the good ground. Paris, on the plateau at about 1,490 feet and 470 feet above its floor, plans for −26°F; Grange Hill −26°F and 8°F warmer at bloom; Crow Hill, east of Chuckery Corners, −26°F and 11°F warmer. Height alone isn't enough: Paris Station, on nearly flat ground at about 1,420 feet, plans for −30°F and reads 7°F colder, since flat ground makes its own cold and keeps it. Keep apricots, peaches and sweet cherries off the Clayville and Chadwicks bottoms; that's apple and bush fruit ground.

Whitesboro, Rome and Delta Lake

West of Utica the floor widens and the numbers slide. Yorkville plans for −28°F and Whitesboro −29°F, both 4°F colder than downtown Utica at bloom, and Sauquoit Creek floods Whitesboro often, another reason to stay off its lowest ground. Oriskany plans for −30°F and Walesville, in a draw, −31°F (MFTC 3b). Rome, where the river turns, plans for −29°F (MFTC 4a, typical winter −14°F) and reads 1°F colder than downtown Utica at bloom, with little warm ground nearby: within 3 miles the floor plans for −30°F and even the warmest tenth −29°F. Riverdale, Colonial Park, Mohawk Gardens and Lynch Tract plan for −30°F and read 4°F to 5°F colder at bloom, and Stanwix −31°F. Stanwix Heights, 100 feet up, plans for −29°F and reads 2°F warmer, the best bloom number of the places around Rome we checked.

North of Rome, Lake Delta plans for −29°F and reads 4°F colder at bloom, and Westernville, in the river bottom above the lake, −31°F and 7°F colder. The slopes above are some of the best bloom ground we checked: Camroden, 280 feet up, −29°F and 5°F warmer; Dopp Hill −27°F and 9°F warmer; and Tripp Pinnacle 12°F warmer, the warmest spring reading of any named place we checked.

West of Rome the land falls along Wood Creek toward Oneida Lake. Seifert Corners and East Verona plan for −31°F, and Taberg −31°F with bloom nights 8°F colder. The Rome Sand Plains are out here, 15,000 acres of pitch pine barrens about 5 miles west of downtown, with sand dunes about 50 feet over peat bogs. Plant the dune tops, never the bogs. Blueberries grow wild under the pines, so that sand may suit our Cold Climate Blueberry Bundle (−40°F) once a soil test says it's acid enough. Toward Oneida Lake, the Oswego, Fulton and Lake Ontario shore map picks up.

Clinton, Westmoreland, Vernon and Sherrill

Oriskany Creek runs 33 miles from Stockbridge past Clinton to the Mohawk, past knob-and-kettle kames, and its bottoms run cold. Clinton village, at about 610 feet, plans for −30°F (MFTC 4a, typical winter −14°F) and reads 1°F colder than downtown Utica at bloom. Kirkland hamlet on NY 5, in the river bottom, plans for −31°F (MFTC 3b) and reads 7°F colder, and Farmers Mills, south of the village, reads 10°F colder, the coldest spring reading of any named place we checked. The kames and hills are the warm spots. The Knob plans for −29°F but reads 7°F warmer, because cold slides off its steep sides, and College Hill, west of the village and 320 feet up, plans for −27°F and reads 6°F warmer. Westmoreland hamlet, on flat ground on NY 233, plans for −31°F and reads 4°F colder; Lairdsville, on a hillside 140 feet up, −28°F and 6°F warmer. North Star Orchards on NY 233 has lower orchards, a hillside block and an upper orchard, and that's how this ground wants planting: early bloomers up top, apples below.

At the west end, Sherrill and Vernon plan for −30°F and read even with downtown Utica or 1°F colder at bloom, and Oneida Castle −29°F and 4°F colder, while Vernon Center, 130 feet up, plans for −28°F and reads 3°F warmer. South toward Stockbridge, Munnsville plans for −31°F (MFTC 3b) and reads 9°F colder, but Mosquito Point, just east of the village and 430 feet up, plans for −29°F and reads 12°F warmer.

Herkimer, Ilion, Frankfort and Little Falls

Herkimer sits on the north bank at the mouth of West Canada Creek, on the flat floodplain that's one reason this stretch was called German Flatts, with Ilion, Mohawk and Frankfort across the river. The floor here plans warmer than around Rome, but it's still floor. Herkimer, Ilion and Mohawk plan for −27°F (MFTC 4a, typical winter −12°F) and read 3°F to 4°F colder than downtown Utica at bloom, Frankfort −28°F, and North Ilion and North Frankfort, down by the river, 7°F colder. Off the floor it's some of the best ground in the valley. East Herkimer, on a bench 110 feet up, plans for −26°F and reads 5°F warmer, and Dutch Hill, Steuben Hill, Oak Hill and Hasenclever Hill all plan for −25°F and read 8°F to 10°F warmer. Gulph, at the head of Frankfort Gorge on NY 171, sits in a draw that plans for −29°F and reads 3°F colder.

Little Falls sits in a narrow, rocky defile where the Mohawk falls 45 feet in less than a mile, past Lock 17 and the glacial potholes of Moss Island. The city plans for −26°F (MFTC 4a, typical winter −11°F) and reads 1°F colder than downtown Utica at bloom, with the benches within 3 miles at −25°F. The upland blooms warmer: Barto Hill −26°F and 10°F warmer, Top Notch −27°F and 5°F warmer. East toward Gloversville, the Saratoga Springs and Gloversville map covers you.

Trenton, Remsen and West Canada Creek

West Canada Creek runs 76 miles from the Hamilton County lakes, through Hinckley Reservoir (which supplies Utica's water) and past about 150 feet of falls at Trenton Falls, to the Mohawk at Herkimer. Down on the valley floor north of Herkimer, Poland and Newport plan for −30°F and read 7°F colder than downtown Utica at bloom, and Middleville reads 7°F colder too. Russia, 330 feet up the slope, plans for −28°F and reads 6°F warmer, and Sand Hill, at about 1,530 feet, plans for −25°F (MFTC 4b), the warmest winter number of any named place we checked.

Up on the plateau, Trenton Falls hamlet and Barneveld plan for −30°F (MFTC 3b, typical winter −17°F) and read 2°F and 5°F colder at bloom, and Remsen −30°F and 3°F colder, while Prospect, on a bench 200 feet up, plans for −28°F and reads 6°F warmer. At Boonville, just off the north edge at 1,550 feet, the frost-free season is 145 days, and the National Weather Service stops frost advisories for northern Herkimer County after October 1 because it counts the season as over. Plant trees rated −35°F at least, −40°F near Hinckley Reservoir, and keep apricots and sweet cherries to Prospect, Russia and the warm slopes.

Spring frost and bloom in the Mohawk Valley

NOAA's 1991 to 2020 medians at the Oneida County Airport station (711 feet) put the last 32°F spring frost at April 30 and the last 28°F at April 21; one year in ten the last 32°F comes as late as May 20. The first fall 32°F comes October 7, for 160 frost-free days. At Boonville the median last 32°F is May 13.

On the spring layer the cold readings are bottoms where side valleys meet a floor (Farmers Mills 10°F colder than downtown Utica, Munnsville 9°F, Kirkland hamlet, Westernville and Poland 7°F), and the warm readings are hillsides where cold keeps draining away (Tripp Pinnacle, Mosquito Point and Bell Hill 12°F warmer, Marcy Hill 10°F). NC State's fruit people figure 3°F to 4°F can separate no crop from a full one.

In April 2026 warm weather pushed early bloom across New York, Central New York included, then temperatures fell below 23°F and killed buds and shoots. The April 19 to 21 and May 11 to 12 freezes put Oneida and Herkimer on USDA's disaster designation as contiguous counties, and statewide losses topped $30 million, 15 percent to 100 percent per grower. The May 18, 2023 freeze wiped out or halved apple crops in the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes, with Oneida, Herkimer and Madison named contiguous counties. An early spring pulls bloom into weeks that still freeze.

So site comes first. Open blossoms of nearly every tree fruit start dying near 28°F (Michigan State's numbers), but only about 15 percent of apple blossoms need to set for a crop, and open haskap flowers take 19°F. Put apples, haskap and bush fruit in the bottoms and save apricots, peaches, plums and sweet cherries for slopes that read warm at bloom. Cornell's home-fruit guide adds: choose apricots for late bloom, pick plums with bloom time in mind and keep hardy kiwi out of frost pockets. Bob Purvis's rule is an east-facing slope, which warms quickly on a frosty spring morning. Don't dam a slope with a hedge across it, keep the grass mowed short through bloom and water a day or two before a frost night. It's a still-night pattern, though; in a windy freeze the warm slopes aren't warm.

What the weather records say

The coldest readings in NOAA station records here: −40°F at the old Hinckley station (February 18, 1979); −36°F at Salisbury (January 19, 1904); −34°F at Utica Harbor Point (February 9, 1934), which matches Utica's listed record low; −31°F at Griffiss (January 16, 1994), Rome's listed record; −30°F at the Little Falls reservoir (February 15, 1943); −28°F at the Oneida County Airport (January 15, 1957) and Rome's airfield station (February 14, 2016); and −25°F at Little Falls Mill Street (February 15, 1943).

Timing matters as much as depth. A tree that hasn't hardened off can die in an early freeze it would shrug off in January, which is why we taper water from mid-August in zone 4 and colder. USDA puts Utica and Rome in zone 5b (−15°F to −10°F), built on the average winter's coldest night. 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 here run mostly 3b and 4a.

What you can grow here

Downtown Utica, Herkimer, Little Falls and the hills, −25°F to −27°F (also Ilion, Mohawk, East Herkimer, Deerfield Heights, Schuyler, Paris and the hills above Utica, Frankfort and Herkimer). Trees rated −30°F and colder fit: Liberty, Enterprise (−30°F), Empire (−35°F) and Honeycrisp (−45°F) apples, all on Cornell's list for New York home growers; Harrow Sweet pear; Stanley, Italian (−35°F) and Superior (−35°F) plums, with Toka (−45°F) to pollenize Superior; Black Gold (−35°F) and Lapins (−35°F) sweet cherries and Montmorency (−30°F) tart; Harlayne apricot; Contender and Siberian C (−35°F) peaches; Marquette grape (−35°F). Blushingstar peach (−25°F), which came through −25°F at our place on January 13, 2024 without damage, fits the −25°F hills and is worth a try against a south wall downtown.

The valley floor, Rome and the side valleys, −28°F to −30°F (Rome, Whitesboro, New Hartford, Frankfort, Clinton, Sherrill, Vernon, Lake Delta, Trenton, Remsen, Prospect, Poland). Trees rated −35°F and colder: Cortland (−40°F), Zestar!® (−40°F), Haralson (−45°F) and Honeycrisp apples; Summercrisp (−40°F) and Bartlett (−35°F) pears on rising ground; Toka, Black Ice (−40°F) and Mount Royal (−40°F) plums; Lapins and Evan's Bali (−45°F) cherries; Westcot apricot (−45°F) and Siberian C peach where the spring reading is warm; Valiant grape (−50°F). Trees rated −30°F fit the −28°F and −29°F towns and are worth a try on −30°F ground in a sheltered spot.

The cold bottoms and the Hinckley country, −31°F and colder (Bartlett, Westmoreland, Walesville, Kirkland hamlet, Stanwix, Westernville, Taberg, Munnsville, and around Hinckley Reservoir, where the old station hit −40°F). Trees rated −40°F and colder: Haralson, Cortland and Wealthy (−50°F) apples; Kerr (−50°F), Trailman (−60°F) and Centennial (−50°F) applecrabs (Ed Schultz saw zero winter injury on Centennial after a winter that hit −47°F); Bolshaya pear (−50°F) on a rise, never in the bottom; Brookred plum (−50°F); Evan's Bali and Juliet (−50°F) cherries; Honeyberry (−50°F), Nanking Cherry (−50°F) and Red Lake currant (−40°F). Trees rated −35°F, like Lapins and Siberian C, clear −31°F but bloom early, so give them your warmest slope.

Roots are the weak link. Dormant apple roots are seriously injured near 10°F while the wood above takes about −40°F, so snow over the root zone is what carries them through. A Cornell fruit newsletter reported Geneva rootstocks unhurt at −40°F under about 6 inches of snow in 1994, and at Ed Schultz's farm in Gallatin Gateway, Montana, Bud 118 has seen near −50°F under snow with no rootstock damage. Montana State recommends an uphill site on a 4 to 8 percent grade, and fruit trees need at least 6 hours of direct sun. Cornell warns against susceptible black currants because of white pine blister rust. Our cold hardiness calculator sorts everything we sell by the coldest temperature it has come through, and our pollination maps show which trees pollenize which.

Questions people ask

What hardiness zone is Utica, NY?

USDA puts Utica and Rome in zone 5b (−15°F to −10°F), but that's built on the average winter's coldest night. On the bad night we plan for, downtown Utica is −26°F and Rome −29°F, both MFTC zone 4a, and the cold bottoms like Bartlett, Westmoreland and Kirkland hamlet are 3b. The hills right above Utica, Frankfort and Herkimer plan for −25°F to −26°F.

When is the last frost in Utica, NY?

At the Oneida County Airport station the median last 32°F frost is April 30 (1991 to 2020), and one year in ten it comes as late as May 20; the last 28°F frost is April 21. Frost pockets on the valley floor run later, and at Boonville, just north of the map, the median is May 13.

Where are the frost pockets around Utica?

The low ground where side valleys meet the floor. At bloom Farmers Mills south of Clinton reads 10°F colder than downtown Utica, Kirkland hamlet 7°F, Clayville 6°F, Chadwicks 5°F, and Whitesboro and Yorkville 4°F. In winter the west end pools hardest: Bartlett, Westmoreland, Walesville and Stanwix plan for −31°F, against −26°F downtown.

Can you grow peaches in Utica, NY?

Yes, on the right ground. Siberian C has come through −35°F, which clears downtown's −26°F and the planning number of every named place we checked, and Contender (−30°F) clears downtown and the hills. Plant them where bloom nights read warm, like Burrstone Hill or East Herkimer (5°F warmer than downtown) or Harts Hill (6°F warmer), not in the creek bottoms.

Why is Remsen colder than Utica?

Remsen sits on the plateau north of the valley at about 1,180 feet and plans for −30°F (typical winter −16°F), against −26°F (−11°F) downtown. The old Hinckley station ran a median 14°F colder on the year's coldest night than the Oneida County Airport, and Boonville's frost-free season is 145 days to the airport's 160. We haven't found a published explanation; deep snow, which chills the air above it, may be part of it.

Can you grow grapes in the Mohawk Valley?

Yes. Cornell's guide says grapes need winter lows above −25°F and at least 150 frost-free days. Our cold-climate grapes have come through far colder (Valiant −50°F, Marquette and Frontenac −35°F), and the Oneida County Airport's 160 frost-free days clear the season test, while Boonville's 145 days on the north edge are tight. Give vines a southern slope with good air drainage.

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.