Every fruit tree has a cold limit. Your USDA growing zone is based on the coldest night of an average winter where you live — and it decides which trees will survive, thrive and fruit in your yard, and which ones will struggle. Tell us your ZIP code and we'll tell you your zone, plus which of our trees are a proven match for it.
How to read your zone
Zones run from 3 (northern Minnesota, Montana) to 11 (South Florida, Hawaii). Each zone is a 10 °F band of average winter cold, split into halves (a and b). When a tree is listed for "zones 5–9", it means it can survive the winter lows of zone 5 and handles summers up to zone 9. Some trees — apples, blueberries, pears — also need a certain amount of winter chill to fruit well, so in the warmest zones they can grow but crop lightly. Heat-loving trees like figs, mulberries, pomegranates and olives are the opposite: give them more heat and they only get happier.
Zone temperature table
| Zone | Average winter low | Typical areas |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | -40 to -30 °F | Northern MN, WI, ME, MT |
| 4 | -30 to -20 °F | Upper Midwest, New England |
| 5 | -20 to -10 °F | Chicago, Boston, Denver area |
| 6 | -10 to 0 °F | New York City, St. Louis, Kansas City |
| 7 | 0 to 10 °F | Atlanta, Dallas, Oklahoma City |
| 8 | 10 to 20 °F | Houston, Phoenix outskirts, Seattle, Portland |
| 9 | 20 to 30 °F | San Antonio, Orlando, Sacramento |
| 10 | 30 to 40 °F | Los Angeles, Tampa, Phoenix |
| 11 | 40 to 50 °F | Miami, Hawaii, Puerto Rico |
Colder than your favorite tree's zone?
Don't give up on it. Figs and several other trees in our catalog grow beautifully in large containers that spend the winter in a garage or basement — that's how gardeners in zones 5 and 6 harvest figs every year. Each product page explains its container options, and our Plant Watering Guide covers container care in detail. Still not sure? Ask us in the chat or at support@fruittreedirect.com — tell us your zone and what you'd love to grow, and we'll give you a straight answer.
Zone data: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (2023), via the public PHZM dataset (PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University). Zones are a guide, not a guarantee — microclimates, soil and shelter can shift your effective zone by half a step either way.