Since wind can be a big factor in Nebraska and Kansas you might consider buying peaches etc. that are one zone hardier than yours. We live in zone 5 but at times are more zone 4 or 6 depending on the year. Initially we purchased Reliance peaches from Gurneys for several reasons 1.) they now have a lifetime warranty (at the time 1 yr) and all peaches we tried previously died. 2.) reliance are zone 4 and relatively dependable 3.) despite all the bad things I've heard about gurneys anything doa from them they have always replaced or refunded by my choice but never until the next spring or fall. All that being said I'm not trying to tell you to buy from gurneys or Henry fields or any other company that is part of that group . I did a deal they had that year where you bought $200 of trees from them for $100 and at that time that was 10 trees total so $10 per tree. 75 percent of the trees lived and we had to pull peaches off by the second year. The trees now 12 years later are still going strong despite our very harsh windy, cold,hot , stormy environment. Now we grow other peaches as well such as contender and flat wonderful which at he time were not available to us. The above mentioned companies are all fantastic companies and most have a great guarantee but before I buy anything I find out what the warranty is. We tried to grow peaches here such as bell of Georgia, hale haven etc and they died. Come to find out many nurseries use nemaguard rootstock instead of Lovell or a similar rootstock hardy to Nebraska , Kansas, Iowa etc. We began many years grafting our own fruit trees because it's cheaper and we know the rootstock and scion wood. I should mention all the 25 percent that died in that order were sweet cherries and plums but not peaches or pears.

By the way, I wanted to let everyone know that although no one replied to this thread, I did get a taker on the offer to combine orders the day after I posted, and we both ended up getting 1/2 off shipping from Roses Unlimited. I also wrote to my local rose society, but they have a relationship with specific rose nurseries/wholesalers and wasn't willing to present this opportunity to the membership, so gardenweb really helped me get the word out. I don't know if this is a sanctioned use for gardenweb but I made a new rose friend through this post and got to save money in the process, so I'm pretty happy.

This is kind of off topic of the thread, but sunleafmoon if you had species of plants native to your area planted, then you got natives, grafted or not. The differences you are noticing between the planted natives and the naturally occurring natives in your area are most likely due to their provenance or as you suspect with the Dogwoods, possibly specific cultivars being planted. You can get native species planted on your property, but they could be grown from seed collected in a far off part of that species native range and thus you might notice differences between them and the ones naturally occurring in your area. Cultivars can also originate from seed grown plants from far off areas(to your area) of the species native range or represent extreme forms/mutations of the species. So, it sounds like you wanted local provenance native trees planted, but you probably got non-local provenance native trees planted. It's uncommon(at least here in Eastern Kansas) for locally native tree species found in nurseries to be grown from local provenance trees. Most are shipped in from a wholesale nursery out of state and the wholesaler grows them from seed collected in their local area or they grow them from seed from wholesale seed companies who collect them from who knows where. Smaller local nurseries(I've found most all of these are started by former farmers or people who grew up on a local farm) and local nurseries who specialize in natives seem to grow much more of their trees from local provenance seed sources.

Ordered a Lambert Cherry tree on 5/4/23. Delivery was delayed several weeks. Upon inquiry, customer service informed me that delivery was delayed because they were waiting on trees to become more established prior to shipment. Tree finally arrived on 6/6/23 in very poor condition. Leaves were completely wilted on arrival. It was potted in very course, poorly moisture retentive media. Cursory exploration of roots revealed poor development. Customer service was contacted again reporting the poor condition of the tree on arrival. I was advised to water the tree by immersing the pot in a bucket water. This resulted in limited improvement of the wilted leaves, but severe wilting recurred within 24 hours. Contacted customer service again and was advised to continue daily immersion watering. When I expressed concern about the longterm viability of the tree, customer service advised it was guaranteed for a year. Thus began many weeks of intensive care involving daily watering with limited improvement. I maintained contact with customer service throughout this period. Eventually, I repotted the tree into a more moisture retentive media. During repotting, it was clear how little healthy root mass the tree actually had. Repotting helped significantly, but it was mid to late July before the tree was healthy enough and able to maintain reasonable enough leaf turgor between waterings that it could be planted in the orchard. Ongoing extra care and watering throughout the growing season produced no visible new growth. Due to its poor condition on arrival and inability to sufficiently establish itself over the summer, the tree died over the winter. I planted a dozen other fruit trees which were healthy on arrival (from other sources) last spring in the same orchard and all are thriving. Upon contacting Nature Hills this spring to report the loss, despite well-documented issues from the start, they are now refusing to reimburse my purchase. They will only offer a 50% credit towards purchase of a new tree and I would have to pay for shipping. Even worse, they don't even have Lambert cherries in stock this season. I've already replaced the Lambert cherry from another nursery and it was half the cost I paid Nature Hills last spring anyway. I have never purchased trees from any other professional organization that didn't replace or refund my purchase immediately upon notification when there was a problem on delivery. Heed this warning and buy elsewhere! Deceitful customer service and warranty policies.