When it comes to growing fruit, I have found it to be a lot of work. In the end it is cheaper to just buy them at the market. I know there is nothing like being able to go out to your own tree and pick fresh fruit. The Arboretum might have some helpful advice but I will let them answer for themselves.
I did find some information from the University of Illinois extension service. You can go to this link http://urbanext.illinois.edu/fruit/tree.cfm?section=tree It has info on different fruit trees for Illinois. It lists five European varieties and a couple Japanese varieties but the Japanese are not recommended for northern Illinois. I know that ornamental Plums are not very long lived and get problems such as Japanese beetle, black knot and cankers.