Anyone around zone 6B growing Jan’s Best mulberry?
This is a Jans Best mulberry I topped last year now I’m training 4 scaffolding branches. I’m going to put it in ground next year zone 6B. I was wondering if anyone around zone 6B is growing Jans Best mulberry?
I talked to Jan quite a bit… technically no it wont. Bryce claimed that world’s best would also… i think a few folks have proven that wrong. Jan has taken over most of the ‘tropical varieties’ as well as Bryce’s. Bryce did get a couple of years growth out of his trees at his parents house… I think they live in Delaware or somewhere of that sort…but it died one winter.
I said technically… which means that you maybe can. You might get lucky wrapping it in burlap and straw baling it… but i think the early wakeup of that cultivar will keep u from it.
If you really want to grow good mulberries here in WV its probably best to talk to Lucille at Whitmans Farm. She has some good ones and will get u going.
Let Jan handle the folks in the tropical and arid climates.
FYI… if u think u can bring it inside and do it that way… it breaks dormancy really early… like in Jan or Feb…so u get to watch it die or have to baby it for months…if u have an indoor or well heated greenhouse…maybe.
Thats the best advice i can give u. No harm in trying though.
Thank you. What about Girardi dwarf in zone 6b in ground?
Gerardi should handle 5B… so you are pretty safe in 6B/7A
If u want to save a few bucks… Edible Landscaping in VA has them cheap. They also have others.
They changed their website so its kind of difficult to find anything now…
@krismoriah
Thank you. Does Jan’s Best wake from dormancy the same time as Worlds Best?
Im looking for a mulberry variety that doesn’t get big an can handle winter in ground unprotected in zone 6b. I have a spot but only room for a dwarf. I have a Jans Best in a pot i was going to plant in ground but i dont want to take the chance of it dieing in ground during winter.
Is Gerardi the only small variety that can be grown in zone 6B in ground unprotected do you know of any others¿?
Thanks for your help
I dont remember.but im going to say similar. I had them in pots in a room that stayed around 50 degrees all winter and they broke dormancy in Feb for me then i moved them to another indoors spot and they got out of control and i got tired of babying them. So if u want to fool with them for 4 months then try to plant them in ground thats up to you.
Ross Raddi lives in a similar zone to you…and he gives some pretty good advice.
I’m in zone 9 pensacola Fl and pulled my World’s Best because it would not get sweet. Nice looking tree with large fruit and plenty of it but no sweetness. After 4 years of fruit production i pulled it. I hear Jans Best is a good grower, sweet, and heavily produces.
I have been watching her jans best vids for years… and she also shows others like worlds best and many more.
Problem is she is in central Florida… and what works great for her… just will not work for me here in southern TN z7b.
Gerardi and Silk hope are working well here. I added a Oscar this spring… it is growing nicely.
I am adding kip parker and lawson dawson soon.
That should be about all the mulberries I need.
Think about Black Prince.
Black Prince is a very productive intense flavored berry fruiting later the most. It’s very sweet with some acidity. Highly frost tolerant, originally from Ukraine. The berries also have a better storage life than other mulberries. I planted multiple trees of this cultivar as I think it has a commercial potential for local fruit sales.
“can handle winters of Moscow”
sale starts soon…wont last long.
@krismoriah . That black prince does look good.
The dude from djngdongs garden reviewed it. Not a lot of details on the taste… he simply said taste great.
He reviews lots of mulberries… including kip parker… and lawson dawson.
He said kip parker has a very special taste… and he commented that lawson dawson was his favorite.
Bearing fruit later than other varieties… would sure be a plus.
Do you have any details on that… for example how black prince compares to gerardi, silk hope, oscar, etc… on when the fruit ripens ?
I am grafting kip parker and lawson dawson to russian mulberry rootstock from BRN this week.
If all 4 take… I may have a couple trees to trade.
I will just plant one of each.
Thanks
TNHunter
Im interested in Maple Leaf also…
http://fruitsandgardening.blogspot.com/search/label/Himalayan%20mulberry?m=1
Jan shows that one too… it does not always fruit for her in central FL… her loc only gets like 100 chill hours. When she has a colder than normal winter it fruits.
Sounds like it needs to be further north.
Nice long pretty berry… she describes as delicious… but ahe says that about most of them.
I wonder how it does in locations like mine… spring warm ups early March… followed a few weeks later with hard frost.
I have found worlds best to taste better after several days of hang time after the fruit darkens. Like maybe more than a week. It’s hard to tell because of the birds lol.
Before that, they are very bland, but they do take on a lot more flavor when they fall off with a small tug or light touch on the berry.
Honeyberries are like that… have to look ripe and hang for a week or so before they taste a little better.
That does not work here…
Bird food before I get any.
Fedco looks to be offering Jan’s Best at some point. They say it is hardy to Z5…
Hmmmm.. in their details description they say this about it.
..
(Dense round-topped tree is one of the last to leaf out in the spring.")
..
If that is true.. it leafs out later than Gerardi, Oscar, Silk Hope, etc..
It would work for me and many others in zone 7, possibly 6.
Anyone know that to be true ?
TNHunter
Some discussions say that the common dwarf everbearing is the parent of Jans Best..which is a seedling of. The major difference is that Jans Best has larger fruit they say.
Some say its ‘improved’ Dwarf Everbearing.
I would think that growers in each zone depending on their winter would get different results.. with Florida having the least dieback and having more production.. versus Z5 which would have the most dieback.. however with fast growing and the tree being everbearing..they would get a crop although much smaller than Z6 or Z7 etc.
Different winters and late frosts would impact the performance each time i would think.
As Bryce noted early on ‘World’s Best’ did survive and produce fruit at his parents house in WV. But i am not sure if that was a milder winter than normal etc.
I think 20F is the key number to determine which branches survive to fruit and which dont.. whereas the trunk will survive and produce new growth which will fruit on everbearing..but not as prolific as those places that do not reach 20F and below.
I have no idea why they would go with Jans Best over Black Prince.. as noted on this forum it is hardy to at least -13F.. and is a much more desirable fruit.
However myself i want to grow Galicia.. the productivity and size etc far outweigh the novelty of the ‘maybe everbearings’.
I have no idea why these arent more widely available.. some one needs to step up.
Dingdong may have Galicia..he has vids on it.
I have researched it and there are several mentioning flavor issues.. low sweetness and no tartness.
Sounds like one I would regret planting.
TNHunter
Marta from reallygoodplants.com had black prince and galacia last year and many other varieties.
Marta said she’s removing it for exactly this reason
