I used to live in Tennessee and tried growing them there and didn't have any luck. I moved back to Indiana in 04 and live in the northern part of the sate. Have had some limited success here as they seem to like the cooler climates better. I do go to Eau Claire, MI every year to pick them, both the sweets and sours. the big thing I have found out about growing cherries is they seem to be more prone to diseases, pests, and weather. So far I have had only one year and that was last year (2013) that I got a small crop of cherries from my trees. My sour cherries (North Star and Montmorency) seem to be a little more hardy than the sweets (2 Rainer, Lapins, and a Windsor). Just my opinion and would like to see what others have to say about your post! This year with the harsh hard winter I didn't get any blooms, and then in their weakened state the aphids hit my sweet cherry trees and done some damage.

Yes, and how often have you tried to move a tree any way but the way you believe in? I can't wait until full dormancy to begin moving trees and have moved thousands of fruit trees over the years not fully dormant, bare root. I watch them come out of dormancy and with many of them for years and years after that. I believe this is one of those horticultural issues that has never really been researched. Cornell recommends stripping the leaves when moving them bare root, not fully dormant, but in my opinion, it is just one of those logical leaps often made in horticulture (and most applied sciences) that has never actually seen the light of research. They also recommend against fall planting fruit trees (or at least did up until recently). The trees that I move earlier, when they have some leaves remaining, seem to do a little better than trees I move later when fully dormant, but it is not a controlled experiment and the trees are not equal to begin with. J. plum trees are particularly easy to transplant and respond without hardly skipping a beat. They are a nurseryman's best friend in this regard. I've even moved a couple when they'd already begun leafing out in spring, knocked off the soil from the roots because they were in in-ground growing bags and clay soil that made them too heavy for me to deal with. I threw them into my truck, drove them 100 miles on a clear dry day without protecting the roots in any way, yet, by mid- summer they were completely recovered. At the time I wasn't really expecting them to even live. So you can ignore my experience, but if you always do things by the book there's a lot you will never learn.

The Meiwa is not going to get large as a standard. The Powell and the Cara Cara will naturally be large so using a Semi-Dwarfing rootstock will help keep them manageable. The Moro will get almost as big. My preference for those would be C-35 and prune to keep them about 8-10' tall and wide. A Standard Meyer at a friends house was planted 25 years ago and is about 10' tall but tries to be wider than that. I planted standards as I was concerned that anything smaller would not grow big enough to espalier against a 6' block wall. I can't imagine using Flying Dragon for anything as it will grow so slowly, you will need to wait many years to see much growth. Many of these varieties have compatibility issues with different rootstocks so thinking that you are going to decide on the best one and then use it on all varieties will not work out well in the long run. You need to talk to a grower that knows the requirements for you area. What originally was called Dwarf was gradually mostly called Semi-Dwarf as you are not really limiting the eventual size of the tree as mostly picking a slower growing tree. Dwarfs are also trimmed more into a bush shape that I don't find looking right. A Meyer trimmed as a Semi-Dwarf Bush shape will natrually want to be 15' wide and 5' tall.

nancy: I am totally unable to provide any insight on successfully growing fruits in Kansas. I can give you some advise on apples. With apples you can find a lot of different rootstocks. I hate the terms dwarf and semi-dwarf because the range of size control offered by many different rootstocks varies greatly. You will find that all "dwarf" rootstocks for apples are very poor and shallow rooting. They will require irrigation as needed and they will require to be staked for support for the life of the tree. Many "semi-dwarf" apple rootstocks will be ok free-standing and can get by without irrigation. M27.....called the patio dwarf. Apples get 5' maximum. Can runt out at 3' if you do not remove all fruit formed until tree gets taller. M26....Trees can grow 8'-12' tall depending on variety. Can be prone to fireblight. Bud-9...Trees get 8'-10' tall unless kept shorter by pruning. M9337 (Nick 29)....Similar in size to Bud 9 eventually but faster growing. Apple trees can be purchased on all these rootstocks if you do some searching on mail order sites. Avoid the sites that sell "dwarf" or "semi-dwarf" apple trees yet do not tell you what the rootstock is. Many will offer a variety on a multiple selection of rootstocks. In my home orchard I have apples on various rootstocks based on what was available when I bought them. Some of my trees are 5' tall x 7' wide and others are 15' tall. Lots of different choices of height controlling rootstocks are available for apple trees. Commercial orchards in my area are now all growing apples on wire (tall spindle) and planting them 3'-4' apart on M9337 or Bud 9 rootstock. I would think if you choose a variety that grows well under your climatic conditions you should be able to find a rootstock that will work well for your situation. Just be sure to stake the tree and provide irrigation as needed.