Zone 6b/7a, SW CT. After moving into my first real house (1/2 acre yard), I started planting in spring 2010. Since then, I’ve been growing just about everything that can survive in this area, as well as a few that can’t.

The #1 fruit for me is jujubes, as they get very high brix and are easy to grow (no insect or fungal issues here and suffer less animal predation than most other fruits). Top choices are Honey Jar, Black Sea, Sugar Cane, Early Golden Crisp, Dong, and Bing Tang.

I used to grow many apple varieties but have scaled back in recent years, as jujubes took their place in my diet. Apples are still good for longer keeping. Best in class are Evercrisp and Goldrush. Though I also like Golden Russet, Kidds Orange Red, Sweet Sixteen, Winston, and limbertwigs.

I’ve also scaled back pears. Harrow Sweet produce quickly and are good. Glou Morceau and Passe Crassane are good late season options. Korean Giant, Mishirazu, and Jilin are all good options, though KG is #1.

Apricots keep dying on me. Often just before or just after becoming productive.

Nectarine/Nectarine- 10+ years in and I’m starting to get a handle on peaches, but it is still a work in progress. But I have a much greater appreciation for spacing them wide enough (at least 15 feet) and keeping them pruned open enough. And most importantly, thinning them more than I think I need.

Plum- Euro plums have been stingy producers. I’ve been getting better at pruning, but they are still spaced too close together. I lean toward skipping Asian plums entirely and going with all pluots/pluerry. Flavor Grenade, Geo Pride, and Flavor Punch are all excellent.

Persimmon- Only non-astringent ones for me-Though I will admit that Nikita’s Gift can be good, if properly ripened. A lot of the other NA are similar- Tam Kam, and Ichi Ki Kei Jiro are the ones I’ve grown the most. They seem good without dieback to ~0F. Maybe -4F. But they can be killed by -8F to -10F winter lows.

Mulberry- IE is good, but Oscar is far and away my favorite. Tart-Sweet when under ripe (red) and Sweet-tart like a good blackberry when ripe.