want to buy couple and just plant them and see what happens.

what are two that is suggested?

i keep reading Persian Black (Morus nigra) and Iraq White (Morus alba) are the best if i'm going to keep only two.

any other suggestions? i'm not going to go crazy on them like with figs. just want one of each color (maybe red one later) to keep myself and kids happy.

They are a pain in locations where you do not want them given the fast growth and roots, but if you like sweet pies and jams they are a very efficient way to get gallons of sweet berries.

http://www.articlesphere.com/Article/History-Of-Mulberry-Trees---Morus-Alba----Morus-Rubrum---And--Morus-Nigra-/42608

jack, thanks for that link. i think i found what i was looking for :)

"Prince's Nursery in 1774 offered for sale 500 white mulberry trees, 'Morus alba' and 1000 black mulberry trees, 'Morus nigra,' at Flushing, New York. Documents show that America's first President, George Washington, bought fruit from this nursery."

so the mulberry trees that i used to climb and eat and got stained is Morus nigra. i'll have to look into that :)

Morus Nigra (black)  is generally considered the best  tasting,  but It is often noted not to do well in the southeast  U.S. because  of the humidity. It is probably the least cold hardy as well,  but most are great tasting.   The Morus Alba (white) can be very variable in taste, and this is normally the tree that becomes very trashy and seeds all over.  I suspect the Alba would have been the trees you remember. Morus Rubra (red) our only native mulberry is normally very tasty, but for some reason there does not seem to be many named cultivars. It normally makes a larger tree. There are hybrids of AlbaXRubra like the Illinois Everbearing which is very good and one of the most widely available.  Silk Hope an A.J. Bullard selection that is supposed to do better in the southeast and he is in your area and would be one to look for.  Gerardi dwarf deserves consideration as it is supposed to stay very small, the nodes and fruit are very close as it is a true dwarf. Pakistan is widely available as well and has very large fruit.

Just a Note I am sure most are aware but Black, White, and Red have nothing to do with fruit color. As in many white have black fruit.

Shangri La is also a reported dwarf, should do good in the southeast as well.

i'm late on my potting. all the cups needs to move into 1 gal, and 1 gals moved into larger container. not to mention Panache cuttings with roots in the baggies and UCD order in couple of months. 

now.. let's talk about mulberry :) i'm keep reading Morus nigra is not good for southeast. it's too humid for the M. nigra. however, i'm reading hybrid like Illinois Everbearing would do well. but at the same time, the taste is much superior with M. nigra such as Black Beauty.. can't decide. then there is White Mulberry.. 

Since M. nigra are difficult to root, I grafted one ('Kaester') onto my M. alba ('Oscar'), but it has grown very slowly.  Still, others might consider grafting/creating multi-variety trees.

I have another M. nigra tree that a friend had rooted for me.  It supposedly stays smaller.  It rooted through the bottom of the pot last year before I got it planted so I need to dig it up and plant it in a permanent spot.  I have a cutting of M. nigra 'Spanish Noir' that I plan to try grafting onto it.

If you have deer around; you won't need to prune.  It's one of their favorite salads.

Daniel there related yes. The subject pops up once in a while , even showed a picture with standing next to an Illinois everbearing.

Bullet the Illinois everbearing is real good cold hardy to have with excellent fruit but taste is subjective as you know.

I just rooted 2 white mulberry cutting  I put them in the moss with the figs.

Bullet i just found this and copy and paste for you.


There was a mulberry tasting at the Wolfskill Experimental Orchard/USDA Germplasm Repository in Winters, last weekend, June 5, 2012. I will share a few thoughts by reviving this old thread.

Cultivars offered for tasting (to the best of my recollection ... I did not take notes):

"Illinois Everbearing"
"Pakistan"
"Oscar"
"Beautiful Day" (white-fruited)
Another white-fruit selection the name of which I can't recall.
"Rupp's Roumanian"
"Thomson"
"Kokuso"
Possibly "Shangri-La", although I may be mistaken.

(Some participants took good notes plus photographs, and perhaps one of them will correct my list.)

No Morus nigra selections were offered, as none were ripe at the time of the event.

The clear favorites of the crowd were "Illinois Everbearing" and "Pakistan". (The piles of fruit of those two cultivars on the display table were eaten down to bare plates very early.) They had the best sugar/acid balance, I think. To my palate, on that occasion, the only other cultivar that approached those two in quality (in terms of a bit of acidity to balance the sweetness) was "Oscar".

"Thomson", "Rupp's Roumanian", and "Kokuso" all tasted straight sweet, sweet, sweet to me. They were all large, plump, handsome fruits, and might be fun to grow just for some variation -- they were all pleasant to eat, if not quite as pleasing as the selections with some "tang" in the flavor profile.

I was not keen on the white-fruited selections.

Martin, I put in order with UCD today. Will see what happens. Ordered Illinois Everbearing, Shah Tut, Beautiful Day, Paradise, and Big Lavender.

I hope I get them. If I root them instead of getting new trees, Mrs might have less to say about them :)

You plan on planting inground or in containers if any root and turn into plants.

Pete,

I have Illinois Everbearing scion if you want them, possibly a stick of Pakistan as well if you don’t want to wait on U.C. Davis/USDA  next year. Last year I tried  rooting the following cultivars from small cuttings. I was successful with a couple Shangri La and Middleton  but no success with Kokuso No. 20, Geraldi Dwarf, Pakistan or a bunch Illinois Everbearing from my own trees either. I was successful grafting with a basic bark graft, but foolish in grafting them on low branches and what did not get hit with a late freeze the deer broke some off.  I purchased a Geraldi Dwarf and a Pakistan last fall as small trees and have a Black Beauty Nigra tree on order as well as hopefully some scion coming from USDA (that was for Harvey)   

martin, with mulberry, i haven't not heard any specific issues with RKN or any other soil related issue. once they root, i'll be moving them up to larger container. once they fill out 3 gal container, i'll be moving them into the ground. at least two trees. i'll be pruning them to keep them under 7'. some will be kept in 20 gal containers to see if they can be container grown with root pruning. 

container culture is lot of pain during the spring for root pruning and up potting, but at the same time, it offers lot of options. i like container culture. and i have two boys growing up right now. they better help me as soon as they are old enough.. moving the trees anyway. 

phil, PM sent. thanks.