The reason why there is so much contradicting information out there as to what is “self fruitful” and what is not is because the information sources are purely anecdotal.
Pollinizers can fly in from miles away to pollinate a tree. Just because someone only has a Methley tree in there yard and it produces fruit doesnt make it self fruitful.
Trees need to be managed in an isolated manner where no contamination from outside pollen sources is possible to determine self fruitful status.
You also have some trees that may be self-fruitful in one climate, but not another. There is also the issue of overlapping bloom times, which also changes by climate.
I live in Lorain County, and I am planting some plums and hybrids. I have Reine Claude Doree in ground and I’m adding Opal next to it. I have Tlor and Sugar Pearls apricots in ground as well. I will be adding Hollywood plum, Toka plum, and Emerald Drop Pluot this year. I will graft Superior and possibly Black Ice, Alderman, and AU Rosa in the future.
I also have Contender & China Pearl peaches, and Spice-Z-Nectaplum.
I would focus on late-blooming plums and pluots. Euros are usually later than most Asian plums and hybrids. Another option is to get an American plum and/or Chickasaw plum to pollinate.
I am not sure if Tlor or Spice-Z will set fruit here, but I am willing to try.
Hey! I live in Lorain County too!
Do you grow anything other than Prunus?
I’ve got several varieties of both apple and pear.
I’m very curious what you have success with…
Do you spray anything to mitigate pests?
Also are you interested in potential scion trading next season?
I have some good news, our Bruce plum this year, after more than 13 years of producing, the fruit are for the first time something I am enjoying eating fresh, this year they are sweeter than ever before as long as the peel is removed, and they tasted more like plum than ever before. The best way to describe their flavor this year, is like grocery store Asian persimmons, yet dripping with Juice, much much softer, way sweeter, and a mild plum flavor. This tree was pruned last autumn, in a way that the fruit gets hit by more sun. I think that this variety needs a lot of sun hours to get decent fresh fruit. I think that this variety would be best grown the espalier way.