I got one from Burnt Ridge this year. I thought it was going to die and I pulled it out of the ground and potted it for intensive care. Just when I had given up it started to bud out. Just wondering if it is supposed to have leaves this large.
And I’m wondering about the taste of the fruit?
Katy
Looks like mine which I thought was Florida Giant?? If it is one and the same, it is a pretty good alba.
Yes it has large leaves, I like the taste best if picked when a little red showing still and shiny, when really ripe and the fruit starts to dull a little just to sweet for me no acid twang. It also leafs very early often gets froze back, and on 2 trees for me that weakened freeze damage invited Ambrosia Beetle which brought on the virus killed the tree roots and all.
It is supposed to be an alba developed in Florida. It’s really looking good after a rocky start. I just put it back in the ground. Roots were much better so I hope it does okay.
I’ll have to watch it in the spring then. I think I had same luck with an Issai. It was beetle struck too but I think it had some freeze damage first. It started getting brown/black rotten areas on it after it came back out from the roots and I just took it out. I might have to put some protection on it.
There is a 20 year old grafted Shangri La here that looks similar, and it makes good berries each April. I agree on the slight trace of not-yet-black maroon color indicating a great time to harvest the fruit when they are mostly tart but getting some sugar. Waiting a few more days until they are no longer shiny and 100% black results in a flat tasting sweet berry that is underwhelming. Late freezes that show up after the tree has come out of dormancy and has begun to leaf out a bit can kill the baby leaves and baby fruit. The biggest problem here is when a few Cedar Waxwing birds happen by, enjoy the berries, and invite the rest of the flock that they run with. When I hear the faint sounding whistle of any of them high up in nearby trees, it is bad news for mulberry muffins, bowls of MB with cream and sugar, etc.
Thanks to Strudeldog who sent me cuttings, I have a couple that rooted. It’s not really hardy here though, not sure how I will grow them?
Glad they took. It’s certainly a early leaf out, but if you can avoid winter/early spring stretches of warm weather you might be okay. I think when dormant it handles cold pretty well. It was actually starting to break bud in Jan. for me when I gathered scion and you might have noticed that. We had very warm Jan-Feb this year.
Thanks for the cuttings! I don’t need two, so anybody want a rooted cutting in trade for something, or postage, let me know. I can ship this fall when dormant, or late winter.
yes, it can have leaves that large, and long-ish internodes. Berries are ok and worth growing if you’re not worried about tree size.
We have one and it about 12 feet tall at only 4th season. I planted it so the birds might want to eat mulberries instead of blueberries. It ripens before most of the blueberries though, and our birds would much rather have blueberries. 
Isn’t that the way it always goes!
I journeyed into the woods today to attempt an air layer on some wild mulbs there and the leaves on those mulbs are HUGE. I guess I really hadn’t looked at how big they can get.
