thanks for the advice, but it is not really necessary in my case. I live and breathe the stuff, it boils down to subjective personal preferences.
incidentally, and since you seem generous with your advice, what albas-- to your taste, are the best? And do you grow any of them?
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very nice! Gerardi’s are the most precocious of mulbs, so don’t be surprised if some of these mature on the same year of grafting! Also quite cold-hardy.
However, I’ve heard from folks in the northern midwest and east coast that all M. albas “taste like straw” in their climate.
At my former home in Rancho Penasquitos I grew every variety carried by DWN at the time, plus a few more from the Wolfskill Collection. Most of these were sold as part of my nursery operation but a few of each I kept in 15 gallon containers for 3-4 years. When I purchased my present property in Vista I knew they would require too much room so I donated them to the San Diego CRFG chapter.
tried all manner of white-fruited and pink-fruited albas too, but to me, gerardi , shangrila, and oscar are much better. Evidently depends on where they are being grown, and possibly on how old the trees are, etc.
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How much different in taste is there between Geraldi and Shangrila or Oscar.
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Bob. v. Really like Oscar. If he chime in and fill Us in more about the taste.
Tony
Geraldi is Morus hybrid (DMOR 16).
Shagrila is also Morus hybrid (DMOR 18).
There are four Oscar’s Three are Morus hybrids (DMOR 26, 68, 76) and one is Morus nigra (DMOR 120).
NONE of them are Morus alba.
I have yet to taste a white mulberry that I really care for that much. It’s personal preference and I find most the white cultivars simply sweet lacking the balance of tartness with sweet I enjoy. I am the same way with Pomegranates. A Nafex member raved to me about Myatadzhy as his favorite and I did enjoy it but I found it just sweet lacking in complexity and balance. If there are light mulberries with the acid twang I’d be interested in which ones
too close to call, although personally i like geraldi better, but my folks like the others. Shangrila is good, but is relatively a poor producer. I gave them all away except for gerardi, which i really like for being such a neat, densely fruiting mulb.
totally agree. If white mulbs are ranked among vegies, then may be considered pretty good–but as fruits? not to my taste…[quote=“strudeldog, post:69, topic:5504”]
acid twang I’d be interested in which ones
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it is the darker berries(of course, not all) which have more tang. Pak’s don’t have much tang, but the wine-like quality and the size more than makes for the lack of acidity
many nurseries still sell them as alba’s, so the query is for the regular joe’s who might be interested in growing them far from the favorable conditions of the southwest or west. As for the existence of morus nigra being marketed as oscar, that is one instance when the would-be buyer gets a better deal than anticipated if he plants it in so cal, but not if he plants it outdoors in michigan. The oscar i had were definitely not nigras.
I believe that @jujubemulberry has walked the orchards of Wolfskill as I have – perhaps once or more on the same occasion – and having tasted all the Mulberry (and Che) accessions, selecting some to grow in our local environments.
I trust the folks at UC Davis/ARS/Wolfskill because I know them personally and know that they’ve put sincere effort into genetic identification and have the tools to accomplish it. There are readers of this thread from USDA hardiness zones 4a to 11b. Clearly a number of species and hybrids are not going to work in zones 8a and lower. For example, the reputable nursery One Green World in the Portland area (zone 8a) does not offer M. nigra, but rather cultivars of M. australis and M. alba. In my opinion any recommendation of a Mulberry by cultivar name should be accompanied by Genus and species/hybrid information tracked back to GRIN data or another reputable source.
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have never been to wolfskill, and neither will i claim any degree of expertise on the subject, but will have to say the cultivars you’ve mentioned seem to bear ‘good quality’ fruits only in your locale.
this would be most ideal, except that switch-a-roos do occur, as farmhands grafting or tagging the specimens have no incentives for achieving zero clerical errors. Albas, rubras, and hybrids are hard to tell apart from each other just by looking at them. Only silver lining to this confusion is that true nigras are relatively easy to isolate from the rest by appearance.
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Is anyone going to the Wolfskill mulberry tasting next Saturday?
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Ryan, how did you learn about this tasting event? I didn’t find any announcement on Wolfskill website.
Tony, you really are a green thumb.
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The USDA lists both Oscar and Geraldi as alba/nigra hybrids.
I saw it on the CRFG Sacramento Facebook group… Let me see if I can find a link
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I’ll be there. Look for a bearded fellow in a purple “Ag Proud” t-shirt.
Wolfskill fruit and nut variety collection (USDA ARS National Clonal Germplasm Repository, Davis) will be having a mulberry and early stone fruit tasting at Wolfskill on Saturday, June, 4 at 10am
4334 Putah Creek Rd. Winters CA 95694
Please consider carpooling, and don’t be late. They will start on time, and you don’t want to miss the introductions and opening remarks. If you don’t come until noon, you will have really missed out.
We are usually addressed by the researchers and field technicians who manage this vast collection of fruit and nut varieties. In the past June tastings, there have been several varieties of mulberries (sometimes dried too) and assorted early stone fruit to sample. Sometimes we are also asked to rate the fruit quality, as they continue to collect information for the extensive cultivar data base they are maintaining, and constantly improving.
Read more about their important work on their website:
http://www.ars.usda.gov/main/site_main.htm?modecode=53-06-20-00
Do take good notes and photos, to share your favorites with others, in addition for your own ‘wish list’.
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