Bass, I feel your pain, although it hasn't been quite as bad for me in the Northwest as for you in PA. Apricots and apricot hybrids have been very disappointing. We've done OK with sweet cherries, and starting a sour cherry now a year old. Maybe try a grape arbor? It doesn't take a lot of vines to have more than you can eat. Some great NY State varieties should do well in PA, I would think, like Interlaken. Price is good (seeded), and so is Venus (seedless) but there are many more. Maybe a mulberry tree? This year I'm going to try the "Illinois Everbearing" variety, and keep it small so I can keep a net over it (birds love mulberries). Have you tried a pear or Asian Pear? DIfferent class of plums (Asian instead of European) just to see what happens? Probably the same insect problems, however. Good luck. Maybe it's time to put in a field of rhubarb and asparagus.

Last winter wasn't as bad as the one before, I believe the lowest temps without windchill were -40C. It is hard to remember because unlike when I was young, they now factor in the windchill and people talk about -45C when actually it is only -35C with one heck of a wind. So when one person remembers the winter as brutal because it was windy, I think it was fine as long as my fruit trees survived. The Gabe A is now about 4 feet tall, kind of willowy and the branches that blossomed were under the snow line. Above the snow there was not much tip damage, maybe 2 inches. I will also add that where it is positioned is on the south side of a deck so we pile all the snow on top of it all winter. What are the chances of some of the Capilano apricot seedlings having some decent fruit? Or is that almost impossible considering the seeds don't really come true to type.

All gardening is local. I'm sorry, greenman, but the quote "if your soil is right, then, the plants are getting all the nutrients they need to battle pests... “ just isn't true in many (probably most) climates. How does having good soil allow fruitlets to combat a weevil like Plum Curculio from piercing fruitlets in the tree canopy and laying eggs inside the fruit? It's great if someone can be healthy without taking any medicine. So far I've been fortunate in this area. But if someone else is dealt a hand and needs medicine (chemicals) to stay healthy, more power to them. I'm glad there are options in this modern area for us to overcome many of the deficiencies we have. Similarly, it's awesome when people can grow fruit without any chemicals (medicine). But in other areas, we are dealt a hand that makes it necessary to treat a particular fungus or pest at a certain time. What really bums me out is that plants that needed no treatment for centuries in my area (ex: mulberries and blackberries) are now all of the sudden devastated by SWD from the other side of the globe. At least Plum Curculio only needs sprayed when the fruitlets are tiny, but SWD hits them just when they are ripening. Major bummer. Unfortunately, a pest from one part of the world infecting other parts of the world is a phenomenon that will likely get worse in the future. I feel natural remedies for maladies are better than synthetic remedies if the natural remedies actually work, but so many times someone takes what works for them in one set of circumstances and insists that it must work for everybody in every set of circumstances. I believe this is an error.

Corunum, A few additional thoughts re the questions I asked above. To check for VW remove a tree branch showing stress about one or two inches thick. Using a very sharp knife make a parallel cut along the branch exposing the middle vascular part of the branch. If VW is present it will be easy to detect the abnormal dark blue-green or black line running along the mid-section of the branch which indicates a VW infection. I had a reason for asking the location of the just removed maples which appear to have been growing safely in your backyard. So, I will mention the following for general information which you should pass on to your arborist. Older neighborhoods can experience the slow death of groups of street trees which are removed without any notice of the cause. It is very common for old gas lines running along neighborhood roadways to develop pin hole leaks. Very seldom is it recognized that these minuscule leaks slowly kill mature trees. So, it is important that arborists and the general public when noticing this type of tree decline situation in street trees call their local gas company to check for a leaking gas line in the area.