USDA hardiness zones — match the tree to your winter
Every variety we sell lists a USDA plant hardiness zone range (for example, “zones 5–8” or “4b–8”). The zone tells you the coldest winters a tree can reliably survive. Before you buy, know your zone and choose trees rated to include it — it’s the single easiest way to avoid winter loss.
- Find your zone with the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map.
- Our home base is central Pennsylvania, zone 5b/6a, elevation ~811′.
- If a tree is rated, say, zones 4b–8 and you’re in zone 6, you’re well within range.
How drop times work
“Drop time” is when a tree’s fruit falls free from the tree and is available to deer. It’s related to but not the same as when the fruit ripens:
- Fruit reaches a point of maturity (ripe to taste), then a period where it hangs, and finally abscission occurs — the fruit releases from the tree.
- Some fruits hold their integrity on the tree and stay palatable even through freezing and thawing (these are your late-season “persistent” varieties).
- A fruit can fully ripen in taste at a given location, yet abscission may not fully occur, causing the fruit to hang later.
What affects drop time
Drop times vary depending on:
- Location / latitude (north vs. south)
- Elevation
- The year’s weather
- Most importantly, bloom time / degree days
Our drop-time chart baseline
The Fruit Drop-Time & Maturity Chart is an excellent guideline. It’s based on our central PA location (zone 5b/6a, ~811′) with these bloom assumptions:
- Pears bloom in late April
- Apples bloom in early May
- Persimmons bloom in mid-June
- Chestnuts bloom in late June–early July
Don’t overthink drop times — the rule of thumb
As a general rule, relative to our central PA location:
- Take a tree south of us and its drop time backs up a few weeks earlier (unless you gain significant elevation).
- Take a tree exceptionally north (or to much higher elevation) and its drop time runs a week or so later.
The relative order of varieties stays the same — an early-dropping apple is still early, and a late-dropping crabapple is still late; the whole calendar just shifts a bit for your location.
Putting it together
- Confirm your hardiness zone and buy only trees rated for it.
- Use the drop-time chart to pick varieties across the windows you hunt.
- Adjust the chart’s dates mentally for your latitude/elevation using the rule of thumb above.
- Stack multiple varieties so fruit falls in sequence (see How to Choose the Right Trees).