Ume can last quite awhile but Higan are probably the most problem prone of all. In either case many plantings of ornamental Prunus are probably affected by delayed graft incompatibility, producing a false impression of them being inherently more ephemeral than they actually are. There is some cutting raised ume stock on the market, I would try to zero in on that. Grafted ume cultivars I planted here were very short-lived, with the combinations producing specimens of fair size - and then the root-stocks suddenly sending up forests of suckers, the scions petering - as though somebody had blown a whistle: "Okay, time's up!"

Have you considered Prunus x yedoensis? About this tree expert Arthur Lee Jacobson has written*:

The charm of Yoshino is in its perfect balance: its dark rugged trunk, often burly and besprouted, makes an ideal contrast for the quintessentially delicate pink blossoms. Nor is the tree so fussy and weak as the winter-blooming Higan cherry, or so bloated and gaudy as are 'Kwanzan' and the other Sato-zakura

*Trees of Seattle - Second Edition (2006)

meaning I want trees to live through my entire life.

==>> how old are you....ken

I'm 22 now but when I buy a home in the future which I speculate to be about around 35 years old and thats when I probably would plant these trees.

Longevity of trees varies considerably with individual site conditions and other factors including the propagation method induced limitation I mentioned previously. So how long a particular Prunus lasted for somebody else on their place elsewhere doesn't to a certain extent really matter to your situation. Perhaps it is sufficient to point out that on the scale of tree longevity a short life still tends to be longer than most people live. At least for wild species living in the wild. Trees in developed settings can often have their lives cut short by adverse circumstances encountered there.

Ornamental flowering Japanese cherry cultivars often do not live that long in many parts of America, 15 to 25 years is typical. In Japan they typically live longer, perhaps 40 years. The reason these cherries do not survive that long are multifold, having to do with climate, disease, and the fact that many of the domesticated varieties are not as hardy as their wild cousins. There are a few cherry trees in Japan that are many hundreds of years old, although they often require specialized expert care to survive that long.

The weeping form is probably not going to have as long of a lifespan as the regular upright form. If you're able to get your hands on some of the more natural cherry blossom cultivars (kind of rare to be able to find), they will probably live a lot longer than the more typical cherry cultivars common in America. The fact that most flowering cherries in America are grafted onto P. avium rootstock does not help either.

here you go heruga, a 77 year old weeping cherry outside a hospital in Baltimore. This was a gift from Al Capone in gratitude for his treatment at the hospital. Many of the cherry trees in DC's famous tidal basin are older than this.

Ok now I'm very confused. Some people are saying the weeping cherry doesn't live for more than 20 years and that picture is 77 years old... In fact, I just remembered I went to a Japanese garden years ago and there was a gigantic weeping cherry and the people who worked there said it was 60 years old.. so I'm guessing these old living ones are the natural, un-grafted ones? Or is there such thing as a natural weeping cherry? The weeping form of a tree was man-made right?

Also we currently have a prunus mume in our yard right now that reliably blooms every early spring with beautiful white flowers. We also had a late frost this season in april that nearly killed all hydrangea blooms but our prunus mume was just fine. Or maybe I think it bloomed before the late frost.. I don't quite remember.

typically VERY short lived here in z7a. I wouldn't recommend planting it expecting it to live more than 20/25 years.

heruga, click on my pic of the weeping cherry, about half way up the trunk you can see the graft union. Some are grafted, some aren't. Now tell us more about your Prunus mume, I would really love to see a pic of that one, is it single or double? The fruit should be ripe, what does it taste like? I had a 'Peggy Clarke' at my place in Maryland in full bloom January 16, during a January thaw. It was remarkable. It never really did that again, it declined and was removed.

I've actually done well with NON WEEPING Higan Cherry.

So I'm guessing they 7a is not hardy enough? And sam, yes I see it but I don't see one in my current weeping cherry. Well I don't quite remember if my prunus mume was double flowering or single flowering(I'll have to look next spring). And it barely fruits yet. It is about 18 feet tall now and last year we got like 2-3 fruits and this year none. Maybe because we didn't prune it at all. And the fruit is called ume in Japan and is very very bitter and astringent and isn't meant to be eaten raw. It's often consumed as umeboshi(pickled plums) or mixing the fruit in sake(Japanese alcohol). The fruit is no more than like 2 inches big and is green and fuzzy. I don't really have a pic of the full tree but you can see the trunk and some of its leaves in the previous thread I posted. http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/4105676/is-my-japanese-plum-tree-dying

And harimetal4ever, how long did it live or how long has it been living?

It is hardy enough, the problem is diseases. Here they are highly susceptible to verticulum wilt and other similar diseases, making them an eyesore for years until their eventual death.

Alright well are all cherries disease susceptible? How about the non weeping higan or yoshino? Or kwanzan?

Yoshino and Kwanzan are real eyesores, v wilt loves them. No personal experience with higan.

Cherries tend to be disease susceptible in warmer humid climates. But it's not just disease, there are many insect pests as well. The type of problems a cherry is likely to encounter is very climate dependent.