Zone 8A (DFW); Fruit and berries, will they survive-thrive?

Looking to expand my suburban food forest/orchard next winter/spring.

Seeking experience-derived feedback regarding suitability of the the following before I order/spend.
- pluots
- atriums
- nectaplum
- Goumi berries
- currants
- elderberry

Many thanks in advance for your wisdom.

Welcome to Permies, Preston!

Maybe if I knew what DFW stood for it would make a difference, but I think if you want good advice, telling us a bit more than just the zone would be helpful.
Things like: 1. how sunny/shady your planting options are?
2. What sort of soil you've got?
3. Typical rainfall at various times of the year?

Telling us some of the plants that are already doing well on your land would also be informative.

I can certainly understand wanting more info before buying a bunch of plants that might hate my ecosystem. I've had a Goumi that's not done much for 5 years, except fix nitrogen for the rhubarb beside it. I only found out this year that they prefer to cross-pollinate, so I *really* need to get it a couple of friends. I don't know *its* specific variety name, so I figure I need to buy two that are guaranteed not to be clones, in order to be sure that one will help out my plant. I live on an Island and inbreeding/cloning is a big thing, because shipping things in is expensive.

Thanks, Jay.

DFW= Dallas/Ft Worth area.

Combo of full sun and part-Shade. Shade is from mature oaks and elms.

I’ve had success with Methley plum, Loring peach, Fuyu persimmon, and blackberries.  Raps berries are gasping in the brutal heat in 1/2-day sun.

Soil at base is heavy clay now covered in wood chips.

My experience is UK 8a not US, but I think elderberries should do fine, even in sun. Our garden is heavy clay over rock hard subsoil, and elderberries thrive here. Currants in my garden prefer partial shade.

I live in DFW as well. I have had success with Elderberries, and like you would love to put in some pluots as well. I have sandy soil myself, but the same combo of sun and shade provided by mature oaks and elms. I see wild plums thriving in my area so I’m hoping that is a good sign for the pluots. Peaches, mulberries and dates have thrives in my garden.

Hi, Preston

The first thing I do when reading posts on the forum is to look up unknown words.

DFW is one I know because I used to live in Dallas.

I am in Zone 8A in Texas though where I live has a completely different growing climate from Dallas.

I did not know what pluots

Pluots, apriums, apriplums, plumcots or pluclots are some of the hybrids between different Prunus species that are also called interspecific plums.

I tried "atriums plants" and came up with maybe you meant Anthurium?  These sound like indoor plants.

Of the other plants on your list, I have had no experience.

When we lived in Dallas we had great success with plums.  Where I live now, I would only consider planting the native Chickasaw Plum.

In the DFW area, I've had the best success with Okra.  They love that full-on Texas sun.  However, this is about year three for me of growing and I've through trial and error determined that for this area and sun, things that say they need full sun still do, but you gotta have some kind of sun-shade over them for them to grow.  After that though, everything else is great that I've tried:  corn, squash, cucumbers, radishes, carrots, beans, bell peppers, jalapenos.  I've had trouble with tomatoes.  They're really tough for me for some reason.  They always seem to get diseased.  I'll keep them off the ground with hay mulch and staked vertical, and I spray them with fungicide, but something always happens.  

I have apricot, plum and cherry growing here in humid and cold Boston, Mass. So the plans will survive in zone 8 Dallas. Infact apricot/almond/plum/cherry are native to semi-arid areas of the world, so they will do just fine where you are.

I would visit a few orchards/farms in the dallas area and see which cultivars they recommend for a hands-off approach even it means less yeild. A quick google search listed his farm that is near you that have quite a few stone fruits. https://www.majesticfarms.net/

Here is some info from your university agriculture extension
https://agrilifelearn.tamu.edu/s/product/texas-fruit-nut-production-plums-nectarines-apricots-cherries-almonds-prunes-hybrids/01t4x000004Ofhl?tabset-33f7c=3
https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/fruitgarden/figure2.html
https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/fruitgarden/fruitvariety.html

I wonder whether Preston meant "Aprium" rather than Atrium? The Aprium is a plum/Apricot hybrid.

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Preston! I'm in your area, AND I have the black gumbo heavy clay soil, too. I'm happy to report to you all my plums and pluots do VERY well in this soil. We did do swales, and plenty the trees on the mounds so that when it DOES rain heavy, the roots won't rot. They being said, they've done well even in this incredible heat and drought. Pears do well here, too. Try new things, and don't let anyone tell you you can't! They said don't do pecans, but my neighbor is growing plenty of them!

You DO have to watch out for the grasshoppers-- they are TERRIBLE! fertilizer and insect netting helps young trees. I saved a pecan and even added new growth.