It’s funny how that all works out, isn’t it!? Almost like natives have natural immunity to native pests! Other than the jujube/goumi I think you are correct.
Unfortunately, the brown stink bugs (non-native), Japanese Beetles (non-native), Spotted Lantern Fly (non-native), and a few other critters may mess with my no-spray plans for persimmons (probably Surround), and I may be spraying for mites occasionally on figs, hence why I didn’t list them. Pawpaws I will see if any leaf bacteria issues pop up that warrent a spray every so often but may remain no spray for me.
Certain butterflies rely on them. Other insects are not as lucky. “Pawpaws produce toxic chemicals called acetogenins in their sap, which function to prevent insects and other herbivores from chewing their leaves. The zebra swallowtail is immune, however. Similar to the way monarch caterpillars ingest and store toxins from milkweed plants and gain protection from predators, zebra swallowtails are also protected by the distasteful or sickening chemicals gleaned from their larval food plant.”
I’ve read that they are related to goats. That means all bets are off with deer and what they will eat. They sure love the fruits but have never seen them eat the leaves.
You ought to try growing all the prunus besseyi hybrids; Oka, Sapalta, Deep Purple, Compass, Mustang, etc. and Hansen’s Bush Cherry’s themselves. They’re made for your area. I was living in in Phillipsburg/Smith Centre area in the '60s.
I’ll definitely give them a look, thanks! I currently have several Carmine Jewel and Wowza going on second leaf as a tough cherry. How do these compare in the heat? Disease/insect pressure? I’m in a flood plain, so I get flooding and drought both, sometimes in the same year. My orchard has raised berms to keep crowns up out of the water, but the roots will be very wet.
I’ve never tasted a cherry/plum hybrid. I’m definitely adding them to my list to grow, maybe even this spring.
They’re hybrids of true plums and the “sand cherry” - prunus besseyii, which is native to northern Kans/Colo. thru Dakota’s. Besseyi is not cherry-like except for the fruit looking like a ‘Bing’ cherry. They do better than any plum for me in Topeka, your area is even better. Once established they need no care. On a raised berm is good! Ripe to the point of wrinkled are best, pulpy flesh makes great preserves. Easy to bird-net and pick as they grow as a large shrub.