• Apple trees can be grown in Missouri.Hemera Technologies/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  Buy fruit trees grafted to hardy, disease-resistant rootstock if you want to grow your own fruit in southwest Missouri. This region lies in USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 6 with hot, humid summers and temperate winters. It's too cold for citrus trees such as orange, lemon, grapefruit and lime, but a number of pome and stone fruit trees will do quite well. Plan to plant at least two cultivars of each type of fruit you want to grow. With the exception of peach, fruit trees are not self-pollinating.
  
  

Apples

• Plant apple trees for their hardiness, productivity and long life in southwest Missouri. The University of Missouri recommends apple above all other types of fruit tree for planting anywhere in the state. Cultivars include 'Jerseymac' for early season ripening, 'Ozark Gold' for midseason, and 'Red Delicious' and 'Golden Delicious' for late season, large apples. Plant more than one cultivar to ensure a fruit crop. Apple trees are not self-pollinating and require wind and insect pollination between trees in order to fruit.
  
  

Pears

• Try a couple of pear trees, but be sure the variety you buy is blight-resistant. Pear trees can be productive in southwest Missouri as long they don't succumb to fireblight, a bacterial disease that quickly can kill a tree. Resistant European cultivars recommended by the University of Missouri include the early-ripening 'Moonglow,' midseason 'Starkling Delicious' and late-season 'Kieffer.' If you prefer smaller, rounder Asian pears, plant 'Shinseiki,' 'Shinko' or 'Chojuro,' keeping in mind that Asian pears are slightly more susceptible to fireblight. The University of Missouri finds that Asian pears grafted to a rootstock called Old Home x Farmingdale produces a more blight-resistant tree.
  
  

Peaches and Nectarines

• Plant peaches, nectarines and plums on a gentle slope in southwest Missouri. Cold injury can be a problem, and a sloping site will drain cold air down and away from trees. Hardy peach varieties recommended by the University of Missouri include 'Reliance,' "Encore' and 'Redhaven.' 'Harko,' 'Mericrest' and 'Hardired' are recommended nectarine cultivars, while 'Earliblue,' 'Stanley' and 'Ozark Premier' fill out the list of plum trees.
  
  

Cherries

• Cherries, with their early bloom, also are a little risky because of the occasional late frost in southwest Missouri. Plant them the same way you would peaches and plums, on a gentle downward slope that drains cold air down and away. Your best bet for a crop, according to the University of Illinois Extension website, is to plant sour cherry cultivars such as 'Montmorency' and 'North Star.' Be prepared to net young trees when they begin to produce, otherwise birds will get the cherries before you do.