Friday, June 28, 2013

Mulberries, And The Winner Is . . .


I’ve been a fruit nut for a long time, and throughout that time have had a particular attraction to uncommon fruits (about which I wrote a book). Evidence of the latter began with  the planting of a mulberry tree in my front yard when I lived in Wisconsin. The plant and fruit seemed intriguing; little did I know, back then, that mulberry trees were growing all over the place. Right now, I could probably bump into a dozen wild trees within a quarter mile of here, or within a quarter mile of my old domicile in Wisconsin. Mulberry is the second most common “weed” tree in New York City.

Commonness is one reason that mulberry doesn’t “get no respect.” Also, fruits from run-of-the-mill trees are too cloying for most tastes. Still, the fruits are abundant, local, organic, and sustainably “grown,”
and some trees have better than run-of-the-mill flavor. The latter are available as named varieties.

Which is why I could be seen today bending flexible poles aver two small trees. Mulberry fruits are a favorite of birds; I needed to protect the fruits. The two trees -- the varieties Oscar and Kokusu -- allegedly bear delicious fruits. Taste of the fruit from these small trees will confirm whether or not they are worth keeping and growing into larger trees. If worth keeping, the trees, once large, will bear enough for the birds and humans.

My bird protection was easily erected. The ends of the flexible poles, in short sections held together by an inner elastic cord (from www.gardeners.com), like tent poles, went into foot-long pieces of PVC pipe that I pounded into the ground. Clothespins hold bird-netting in place on the poles and metal staples pinned the netting to the ground.

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'Illinois Everbearing' fruit
Three species of mulberry are commonly eaten: white mulberry, Morus alba; red mulberry, M. rubra; and black mulberry, M. nigra. (Fruit color has nothing to do with species names; many white mulberry trees bear black fruits.) In the eastern part of the U.S., we find our native red mulberry as well as white mulberry, introduced from Asia in the early 19th century, as well as hybrids of the two. Black mulberry thrives best in Mediterranean-type climates.

Right next to my two little trees I have an older mulberry, the variety Illinois Everbearing, a natural hybrid of the white and red mulberry species that does indeed bear over many weeks. My Oscar tree is probably a variety of white mulberry. Kokuso is sometimes listed as its own species, M. latifolia. At any rate, all three varieties are supposed to be hardy and delicious.

'Illinois Everbearing'tree
I can vouch for Illinois Everbearing because I’ve grown it for a number of years. Although hardy, branches often die back because they don’t realize, towards the end of summer, that it’s time to slow down growth and toughen up for winter. I make it slow down as summer wanes by letting grass and weeds grow high at its feet, sucking up excess moisture and nutrients.

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The best-tasting of the mulberries, I’d even stick my neck out so far as to say perhaps the best-tasting of all fruits(!), is the black mulberry species. The berries aren’t particularly big but they pack enough flavor that they could be the size of an orange. Their flavor has a nice balance of sweetness and tartness along with some  . . . je ne sais quoi. Mulberryness?

Problem is that black mulberry is not hardy here. I’ve grown it in a pot, but a potted plant has only a limited amount of stems on which to hang fruits so yields are very low. I planted one right in the ground in the greenhouse a few years ago, planning to espalier it as directed in my book, The Pruning Book: “To train a
M. nigra in greenhouse, prior to its demise
mulberry to a tidy form, develop a main set of limbs, then prune branches growing off these limbs to six leaves in July to make short, fruiting spurs.” Not so! I garnered that pruning information from a British book, and it’s evidently is another gardening Britishism that doesn’t work on this side of the pond, probably due to differences in daylength and/or summer temperatures. My tree has done nothing but grow and grow, with little fruit on the abundant, lanky stems.

This week I ripped the black mulberry out of the greenhouse and planted, in its stead, a fig to accompany the three other in-ground figs there. 

A few weeks ago, before the black mulberry awoke from its winter slumber, I cut off a branch and grafted it onto a similarly sized branch of the Illinois
Morus nigra fruits
Everbearing tree. Black mulberry isn’t supposed to be cold-hardy outdoors here, but who knows? It’s a very long shot. As I said, I can’t believe everything I read, even if I wrote it. This time I hope that all of us are wrong.

15 comments:

  1. "If worth keeping, the trees, once large, will bear enough for the birds and humans."

    That's sort of the concept that I am shooting for on my property with all my fruit bearing plants. The expense, hassle, and appearance of all the netting that would be required to preserve all of my harvest for my family just doesn't seem worth it. Doesn't it make more sense to just plant twice or even more of what I think I want so that the birds can get theirs and my family can get ours? I've got plenty of space, so that's the concept I am attempting as I get started. (I'm on year 2 so at this point the birds are getting far more than I am from my still small plants.)

    I just wonder if over time my abundant harvest will attract more and more birds to the point that the consumption will always meet the harvest. But netting is just a killer for me -- what a maddening, unattractive, expensive hassle. What are your thoughts and experiences on netting and sharing the harvest?

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    1. I think whether or not giving the birds some free eats satisfies them or leads to more birds depends on the kinds of fruits available. The only fruits that I net are my strawberries and blueberries. Birds are especially fond of blueberries -- but so am I.

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  2. We have wild mulberries on our farm and although I rarely eat them the grandchildren and birds hit the tree regularly. We leave them because the great thing about them is that the chickens love them and as long as there are mulberries the birds stay away from my strawberries. We do have to remain vigilant about cutting/weeding them out of the flower beds and gardens though.

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    1. Yeh, mulberry seedlings pop up everywhere here, from wild plants and from my own plants.

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  3. Hi have a young Grafted Illinois everbearing that really sprouted this its second year. My neigbourhood is pestered though with wild mulberry. I would like to know if you Morus Nigra graft survives!

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    1. I'm not hopeful but will keep you all posted.

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  4. Lee,

    We've got Morus rubrus and Illinois Everbearing growing. Illinois wins hands down. I'd love to propagate it but I'm not sure how. Suggestions would be appreciated.

    Mike

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    1. Wild mulberry seedlings come up all over the place here. It's easy to graft dormant scions of Illinois Everbearing onto these seedlings in early spring, just as buds on the seedlings are swelling, using a simple whip graft. You can dig up seedlings for grafting or just graft them in place, if you want a tree there.

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    2. No wild seedlings here but I think I'll graft some Illinois onto a number of our M. rubrus trees as an insurance policy against the Illinois dying.

      Can cuttings be taken from the Illinois?

      Mike

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    3. Where are you that you have no wild mulberries?
      Mulberries can be rooted from cuttings, with moderate difficulty.

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    4. 125 km northeast of Toronto, Ontario. M. rubrus grows here but there's very little of it in the wild. It's on the endangered list - http://www.rom.on.ca/ontario/risk.php?doc_type=fact&id=39

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  5. Hi,

    Have you tried 'Javid Iranian Black Gem' Black mulberry ? It is said to be more cold hardy than others.

    Thanks to your comments on fruit taste in your book, i'm planning to buy several mulberry trees next year, including a black mulberry from eastern Europe named Aalst. No sos hort on fruit size : http://web.archive.org/web/20090228072304/http://www.coplfr.org/articles33a38/article33pag40.html ! I'm in zone 7b, it should not be a big deal.

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    1. Interesting, and tempting. I may have to give it a try in a very sheltered place, against the south wall of my brick house.

      My Noir de Spain black mulberry, in a pot, is ripening now.

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  6. As far as propagating mulberry trees including Illinois Everbearing and Morus Alba, I have had excellent success with cuttings from first year wood such that are obtained in the course of regular pruning, usually aided by a dip in rooting compound. Be patient! I have seen the cuttings leaf and even flower and fruit before a sufficient root system was formed, pulling the cuttings before they were ready and losing them that way.

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  7. Thanks. I'll try rooting them and being patient.

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