No fruit trees in East Oklahoma?

Somebody I was talking to said you can't really grow fruit trees in east ok due to pest pressure and/or weather.  Is this true? Or put another way, what kinds of fruit can you grow?

Eastern Oklahoma is large area.  Do you have a specific location?

I remember lots of mulberry trees.

This is from tulsaworld.com:

Generally, apples and pears are the easiest of the tree fruit to manage, with peaches being the most difficult. Sweet cherries do not thrive in Oklahoma, but sour cherries do well. Most of the berries require much less management and can be grown more successfully than the larger fruit.

Your profile says: Rocky Mountains, I would recommend if you are planning a move to East Oklahoma check with the local County Extension Agent as I am sure you can get answers there.

There are some fruit trees that grow naturally in southeast Oklahoma such as persimmon and I have several apple trees I've been able to grow here on my place although I'm still experimenting and pulling together ideas before I plan out my land I don't believe you will have to many issues but do keep in mind we get harsh winters and summers can get hot enough to burn young trees so you will have to do some research to determine what care to take to protect your fruit trees during extreme weather.

Sincerely "Homesteading the mountain".

I'm at the eastern most edge.

Apple trees are a good start. While we have cedar-apple rust that reduces efficiency of the trees they all bore some fruit this year.  Last year a late frost froze most of the blossoms. 7/8 survived 7/7 bore fruit
Pear trees were a little harder to start and we had some fireblight damage a few; and maybe planted in an area that gets too much runoff from the roof. We did enjoy a few carmel-pear-pies from our own trees. 3/5 survived 2/3 bore fruit
Cherry trees/bushes are hit or miss.  2/4 survived (one was planted in a bad spot and was removed) 2/2 bore fruit
Fig trees grow fairly well, though the fruit needs thinning so the tree can focus it's energy.  We only have one tree and probably planted in a bad place, as it is within the garden. The winter knocks it back each year but it keeps coming back.
Red Mulberry grows like a weed and produces fruit for a month or so. Need to propagate or find some white mulberry for fodder and fruit.
Willow trees grow well (fodder).
We had a good harvest off the Black Walnut tree.
Something is killing hickory trees four dead and a fifth one failing.
Pecans were and expensive mistake; but they are where we started.  Two of four might still have something attempting to grow from the root stock, but five years in they look worse than when we planted them.

My neighbor's orchard has apple, pear, peach and plum.  But the peach trees had a bit of canker and the plum trees didn't get enough water for the fruit to fill out correctly. His pear trees were bountiful.

We are observing a gap in rainfall two months dry mid march-to mid may then a single heavy rain fall three week gap and another heavy rainfall. It seems to be forming a bit of a pattern; but weather is change.

Good luck with growing.
It is better to plant them now; than in the perfect spot tomorrow.

Ames Orchard and Nursery carries fruit trees that they've found to be the most reliable varieties dealing with the climate and disease pressures of northwest Arkansas, not too far from eastern Oklahoma.

https://amesorchardandnursery.com/

Found this concerning the Ozarks (so more applicable to the far east side of the state).  In short, apples and stone fruits may have some hurdles to overcome but there are some other things that thrive and practically take over.
https://attra.ncat.org/publication/fruit-trees-bushes-and-vines-for-natural-growing-in-the-ozarks/