The Bas-Rhin has cold winters, with a continental climate. One winter in ten, it falls to about −14 °C in Strasbourg, −16 °C around Sélestat and Haguenau and −17 °C in the Vosges and the Alsace Bossue.
We went through thirty winters of Météo-France records, from 1996 to 2026, and compared them with the hardiness of each of our plants. Choose your area below. You will find:
- the citrus trees that spend the winter outdoors without protection;
- those that need a fleece on frosty nights;
- those that stay in a pot.
The lists are kept up to date: only the plants available today are shown with a photo.
- −5 °C or milder
- −6 to −7 °C
- −8 to −9 °C
- −10 to −11 °C
- −12 to −13 °C
- −14 to −15 °C
- −16 to −17 °C
- −18 to −19 °C
- −20 °C and colder
Colour: the cold of one winter in ten, on the plain. Click on a neighbouring département to see its page. Map of the whole of France.
Choose your area:
−14 °Cone winter in ten
Strasbourg and the Kochersberg
Strasbourg, Schiltigheim, Illkirch-Graffenstaden, Entzheim, Molsheim, Truchtersheim, Brumath
See the citrus trees for this area
The least cold part of the département: −14 °C one winter in ten, −9 °C in an ordinary winter. The centre of Strasbourg has less frost than the countryside: −12.4 °C one winter in ten at the botanical garden, −16.5 °C at Entzheim. Citranges, Yuzu and Yuzu 3 spend the winter outdoors here; the other yuzus and the hardiest satsumas with a fleece on frosty nights, against a south-facing wall; the other citrus trees stay in pots. The soil, often silty and chalky, stays wet in winter: plant on a mound.
Strasbourg-Entzheim
The soil of the area and the rootstock
According to the soil map, this area mostly has chalky soils, silty soils and soils waterlogged part of the year. In practice, the soil is often chalky, silty, winter-wet and clayey.
Rootstocks to favour: Poncirus, then FA5. Poncirus only if the active lime stays below about 5% (soil analysis).
Your plot may be different. Look at the Géoportail soil map (in French) around your home, then refine with our 5-step test.
In open ground, without protection
They withstand −14 °C. In the first years, a fleece on nights below −5 °C is a sensible precaution.
In open ground, with a fleece on frosty nights
They withstand −11 °C. A winter fleece put on at each frost and removed as soon as the frost stops, and a sheltered spot against a south-facing wall.
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Satsuma China S-2
down to −12 °C · €41.00
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Changsha Mandarin
down to −12 °C · €38.00
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Changshan Huyou
down to −11 °C · €38.00
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Sudachi Seneca
down to −12 °C · €42.00
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Ichang Lemon Shangyuan
down to −12 °C · €38.00
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US 119
down to −12 °C · €35.00
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Clemyuz
down to −12 °C · €38.00
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Eremorange
down to −12 °C · €35.00
See all 14 available plants that withstand −11 °C
Sold out for now: 10 other plants
On their page, “Notify me” lets you know when they are back: Ambersweet, Auline, Bendizao Mandarin, Satsuma Dobashi Beni, Satsuma Kowano, Satsuma Louisiana, Satsuma Miho, Satsuma Saigon, Satsuma Waze, Thornless Yuzu.
The others: in a pot, brought in for the winter
Lemons, limes and less hardy citrus (more tender than −11 °C): in a large pot, outdoors from spring to autumn and brought into a bright, frost-free room for the winter. All our citrus trees.
−16 °Cone winter in ten
Central Alsace: Sélestat, Obernai and the Villé valley
Sélestat, Benfeld, Erstein, Obernai, Barr, Châtenois, Villé
See the citrus trees for this area
The Ried plain and the entrance to the Villé valley: −16 °C one winter in ten, −11 °C in an ordinary winter. The alluvial soils here often stay wet in winter: take care of drainage. Citranges, Yuzu and Yuzu 3 live in the ground here with a fleece on very cold nights; the other citrus trees stay in pots.
Villé
The soil of the area and the rootstock
According to the soil map, this area mostly has river alluvium, chalky soils and silty soils. In practice, the soil is often winter-wet.
Rootstock to favour: Poncirus.
Your plot may be different. Look at the Géoportail soil map (in French) around your home, then refine with our 5-step test.
In open ground, without protection
They withstand −16 °C. In the first years, a fleece on nights below −5 °C is a sensible precaution.
None of our available plants withstands this cold without protection: choose pot culture.
In open ground, with a fleece on frosty nights
They withstand −13 °C. A winter fleece put on at each frost and removed as soon as the frost stops, and a sheltered spot against a south-facing wall.
The others: in a pot, brought in for the winter
Lemons, limes and less hardy citrus (more tender than −13 °C): in a large pot, outdoors from spring to autumn and brought into a bright, frost-free room for the winter. All our citrus trees.
−16 °Cone winter in ten
Northern Alsace: Haguenau, Outre-Forêt and the Hanau area
Haguenau, Bischwiller, Soufflenheim, Wissembourg, Lauterbourg, Niederbronn-les-Bains, Bouxwiller
See the citrus trees for this area
The north of the plain, up to the Lauter: −16 °C one winter in ten. Scheibenhard falls to −15 °C, Uhrwiller to −17.8 °C. The soil is often silty and chalky: plant on a mound. Citranges, Yuzu and Yuzu 3 can be risked here with a fleece, against a south-facing wall; the other citrus trees stay in pots, brought in for the winter.
Uhrwiller
The soil of the area and the rootstock
According to the soil map, this area mostly has chalky soils, calcium-rich but barely chalky soils and foot-of-slope soils. In practice, the soil is often chalky, silty, winter-wet and clayey.
Rootstock to favour: Poncirus. Poncirus only if the active lime stays below about 5% (soil analysis).
Your plot may be different. Look at the Géoportail soil map (in French) around your home, then refine with our 5-step test.
In open ground, without protection
They withstand −16 °C. In the first years, a fleece on nights below −5 °C is a sensible precaution.
None of our available plants withstands this cold without protection: choose pot culture.
In open ground, with a fleece on frosty nights
They withstand −13 °C. A winter fleece put on at each frost and removed as soon as the frost stops, and a sheltered spot against a south-facing wall.
The others: in a pot, brought in for the winter
Lemons, limes and less hardy citrus (more tender than −13 °C): in a large pot, outdoors from spring to autumn and brought into a bright, frost-free room for the winter. All our citrus trees.
−17 °Cone winter in ten
Vosges and Alsace Bossue
Wangenbourg-Engenthal, Le Hohwald, Schirmeck, La Petite-Pierre, Drulingen, Sarre-Union
See the citrus trees for this area
The Vosges and the Lorraine plateau of the Alsace Bossue: −17 °C one winter in ten, and −20.2 °C recorded at Le Hohwald in December 2009. The soil here is often acid. Only citranges, Yuzu and Yuzu 3 live in the ground here, with a fleece at each frost, against a south-facing wall; keep the other citrus trees in pots, brought in for the winter.
Le Hohwald
The soil of the area and the rootstock
According to the soil map, this area mostly has very acid sands, chalky soils and ordinary brown soils. In practice, the soil is often acid, chalky, clayey and silty.
Rootstock to favour: Poncirus. Poncirus only if the active lime stays below about 5% (soil analysis).
Your plot may be different. Look at the Géoportail soil map (in French) around your home, then refine with our 5-step test.
In open ground, without protection
They withstand −17 °C. In the first years, a fleece on nights below −5 °C is a sensible precaution.
None of our available plants withstands this cold without protection: choose pot culture.
In open ground, with a fleece on frosty nights
They withstand −14 °C. A winter fleece put on at each frost and removed as soon as the frost stops, and a sheltered spot against a south-facing wall.
The others: in a pot, brought in for the winter
Lemons, limes and less hardy citrus (more tender than −14 °C): in a large pot, outdoors from spring to autumn and brought into a bright, frost-free room for the winter. All our citrus trees.
Readings from the Météo-France stations (winters 1996-1997 to 2025-2026)
| Station | Altitude | Ordinary winter | One winter in ten | Record | Winters at −9 °C or below |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strasbourg (botanical garden) | 139 m | −8.6 °C | −12.4 °C | −13.7 °C (2 January 1997) | 10 out of 30 |
| Waltenheim-sur-Zorn | 252 m | −8.8 °C | −14.1 °C | −14.9 °C (20 December 2009) | 11 out of 22 |
| Scheibenhard | 144 m | −9 °C | −15 °C | −15.2 °C (11 January 2009) | 11 out of 20 |
| Berg | 350 m | −10.2 °C | −16.8 °C | −16.8 °C (20 December 2009) | 16 out of 23 |
| Strasbourg-Entzheim | 150 m | −10.5 °C | −16.5 °C | −18.4 °C (26 December 2010) | 21 out of 30 |
| Stattmatten | 121 m | −10.5 °C | −16.7 °C | −16.9 °C (24 December 2001) | 15 out of 21 |
| Uhrwiller | 217 m | −10.5 °C | −17.8 °C | −18 °C (20 December 2009) | 17 out of 22 |
| Preuschdorf | 167 m | −10.8 °C | −15.8 °C | −16.5 °C (24 December 2001) | 20 out of 25 |
| Sélestat | 173 m | −10.9 °C | −15.9 °C | −17 °C (20 December 2009) | 21 out of 30 |
| Wangenbourg | 460 m | −11.4 °C | −15 °C | −16.9 °C (7 February 2012) | 21 out of 30 |
| Villé | 264 m | −11.6 °C | −15.5 °C | −18.7 °C (24 December 2001) | 21 out of 28 |
| Le Hohwald | 591 m | −13 °C | −18.1 °C | −20.2 °C (20 December 2009) | 25 out of 28 |
“Ordinary winter”: half of the winters go colder, the other half less cold. “One winter in ten”: this cold is reached or exceeded in about one winter in ten. Calculations by the Greffeur d'agrumes nursery.
How to read these figures
The hardiness given on our product pages is the cold that an adult, healthy and hardened citrus tree withstands during a short frost. We compare it with the cold that comes back about one winter in ten: a plant listed “without protection” withstands at least that cold. In harsher winters, about three in thirty, keep a winter fleece ready for the coldest nights.
Very harsh winters are still possible. In December 2009, Sélestat fell to −17 °C and Le Hohwald to −20.2 °C; in December 2010, Strasbourg-Entzheim recorded −18.4 °C. Such cold can burn the leaves or a few shoots of a citrus tree that is only just hardy enough. Wait for spring to see what grows back before pruning.
To understand what helps a tree get through frost, read Understanding citrus hardiness.
Our advice for the Bas-Rhin
- Make the most of the city and of walls. The centre of Strasbourg has less frost than the countryside: one winter in ten, the botanical garden falls to −12.4 °C, Entzheim to −16.5 °C. A sheltered courtyard or a south-facing wall gains a few degrees.
- Avoid hollows. Cold air flows down and collects at the bottom of valleys and in basins. Plant halfway up a slope or against a south-facing wall, never at the lowest point of the garden.
- Take care of drainage. The alluvial soils of the Ried and the silty soils of the plain often stay wet in winter. In heavy or chalky soil, plant on a mound.
- Choose the rootstock for your soil. In the Bas-Rhin, the cold comes first: Poncirus is the most cold-resistant. Our 5-step test helps you choose: Which rootstock should you choose?
- Plant in spring, once the frosts are over, and protect young plants on nights below −5 °C during the first years. Put the winter fleece on at each frost and take it off as soon as the frost stops.
- Mulch in summer only, against drought, without the straw touching the trunk. Pull it away from the foot of the tree at the end of autumn: moisture at the collar encourages phytophthora.
Frequently asked questions
Can I plant a lemon tree in the ground in Strasbourg?
No. Lemon trees withstand about −5 °C, and Strasbourg falls to around −9 °C in an ordinary winter. Keep them in pots, brought in for the winter to a bright room protected from frost. You will find them in Lemons and lemon substitutes.
Which citrus trees withstand the cold best in the Bas-Rhin?
Citranges, Yuzu and Yuzu 3, which withstand −15 °C: they spend the winter outdoors without protection in Strasbourg and in the Kochersberg. In central and northern Alsace, in the Vosges and the Alsace Bossue, they live in the ground with a fleece at each frost, against a south-facing wall. The other yuzus (Yuzu 30, thornless, Tada Nishiki) and the hardiest satsumas, which withstand −12 °C, can be tried with a fleece around Strasbourg; elsewhere, they stay in pots. They are brought together in Hardy citrus.
What about orange trees and clementines?
They withstand −7 to −9 °C depending on the variety: that is not enough for the Bas-Rhin, even in Strasbourg. Grow them in pots and bring them in for the winter.
My town is not listed: which area should I choose?
Take the nearest area at the same altitude, then compare with the nearest station in the table of readings. Take off about one degree for every 150 m of extra altitude, and one or two degrees if you are in a hollow.
These figures are guidelines. Your garden may be milder or colder than the nearest station. A question about your plot? Write to us.
Sources: Météo-France, daily basic climatological data (data.gouv.fr, Licence Ouverte 2.0); near the eastern border, also the Deutscher Wetterdienst (Datenlizenz Deutschland 2.0); towns, altitudes and boundaries: INSEE, IGN (Admin Express, RGE ALTI) and geo.api.gouv.fr (Licence Ouverte); soils: dominant soil map INRAE / Gis Sol (Licence Ouverte). Topsoil lime: LUCAS, European Commission, JRC (ESDAC, Ballabio et al. 2019).