updated 6/13/2021

Site description and contact

Whitehall - MSU Extension Fruit Research Site

This orchard is located in Whitehall in Madison-Jefferson County at an elevation of 4,419 ft. To see locations of all MSU Extension Fruit Research Sites and Montana Heritage Orchards, visit this interactive web map. 

To coordinate a site visit, contact Kaleena Miller, MSU-Extension, (406) 287-3282.

Climate

These data originated from the nearest weather station in Whitehall, MT and were downloaded from NOAA's website. Note that elevation and environmental conditions may vary somewhat from the orchard site.

Weather Station
Elevation (ft)		 Average Total
Annual Precip (in)		 Annual Average
High (F)		 Average Annual
Low (F)		 Extreme High
Temp (F)		 Extreme Low
Temp (F)
4,360 41.9* 88 14 97 -9

* Precipitation data may not be accurate from this weather station.

See also: detailed climate data for all sites (opens in Figshare)

Management Practices

Irrigation

Fertility management

Weed management

Pruning

Deer issues?

Fireblight presence

Pest notes

drip on well; 2-gallon emitters per tree

soil sampling and management per test results

6-ft-wide mulch strips around trees; hand removal, no herbicides, grass mowed

yes, central leader

previously; now fenced

no

aphids; birds love the cherries

Cultivars Planted

Apple: 'Chestnut Crab', 'Frostbite', 'Goodland', 'Honeycrisp', 'Prairie Magic', 'Sweet 16', 'Zestar!'

Pear: 'Golden Spice', 'Parker', 'Patten', 'Ure'

Plum: 'Mount Royal', 'Pipestone', 'Toka'

See also: full list and descriptions of the fruit tree cultivars used in this research

Orchard notes and map

Trees were initially planted in May of 2014. No rootstock information is available. Site visit notes, 4/26/2019:

  • Orchard is very well-tended; most of the original trees have survived and are producing. The landowners sell produce at the local farmers market.
  • Site issues include strong winds, hailstorms, pests exposing bark, and birds eating cherries.
  • Landowner favorites, based on taste and size, include the apple varieties ‘Zestar!’, ‘Goodland’, and ‘Prairie Magic’.
  • All pear cultivars have had great growth, but landowners have yet to find a way to ripen them.
  • Cultivars that didn’t survive were ‘Golden Spice’ pear and ‘Arkansas Black’ apple. These cultivars were replaced with ‘Frostbite’ apple, ‘Evans Bali’ cherry, and a ‘Chestnut Crab’ apple.

See the printable orchard maps and data for all sites (opens in Figshare).

Photo gallery

Click image to expand and view description.

Orchard entrance, March 2019Orchard in March 2019'Pipestone' plum in full bloom, May 2020'Mount Royal' plum in full bloom, May 2020'Mount Royal' plum in full bloom, May 2020

Click on an image to view as a slideshow.

Tree survival data, fall 2019

  Cultivar &
total surviving trees/total planted trees		 Total
planted		 Total
alive		 %
survival
Apple Chestnut Crab Frostbite Goodland Honeycrisp Prairie Magic Sweet 16 Zestar!      
  1/3 1/3 2/3 3/3 3/3 3/3 3/3 21 16 76%
Pear Golden Spice Parker Patten Ure            
  0/3 3/3 3/3 3/3       12 9 75%
Plum Mount Royal Pipestone Toka              
  3/3 3/3 3/3         9 9 100%

 

See also: survival data for all sites in spreadsheet format (opens in Figshare)