What Morus rubra available online would you recommend for zone 8b in Northeast Texas? They will be planted this Fall (or in Spring if I can’t find anyone shipping this Fall) in an area that’s mostly shaded.
Not sure, but I’m close to you and I have Dwarf Everbearing from Starkbros, Jans Best, and Tice going. Let me know if you want a few sticks
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Good luck finding a true, pure rubra. I’d refer to the later posts in the following thread. Some people/nurseries had their material tested and there’s some pure rubra out there.
There are likely billions of pure Morus rubra growing wild in the southern half of their range, but I don’t know of any selections being sold by any nurseries, or pure seedlings. They just don’t make good cultivars. There are some hybrids that lean strongly toward rubra, but with far better production. Search the forum for Varaha and Lawson Dawson and you should find a lot of good info. Don’t believe anything about mulberries being sold by nurseries that don’t specialize in mulberries. There is a huge amount of misinformation out there.
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Yup, I am unaware of any commercial named varieties of pure Rubras and any reliable sources of pure rubra seedlings.
I’m not married to it being pure rubra, so long as it can tolerate partial to full shade and my climate.
I’ve been reseaching mulberries a little my self. I have 4 wild mulberry that are prime for grafting late winter/early spring. Mulberry varieties are a complete mess, there are probably over 100,000 unique varieties world wide if not more. And I suspect of you take a walk where they grow wild, you will find dozens in a small little area. Mulberries are hard… maybe not to grow but to determine which one(s) you would like to try. I think it’s best to just see what others are saying about a specific variety they are growing. And if appeals to you, ask kindly where they got it from or ask for scions to graft.
Some info i found…
“Varaha — excellent everbearing selection from Kentucky found and introduced by Blake of Peaceful Heritage Nursery. Tested as “mostly rubra” in 2022 SARE grant.”
Harmony Grove — fruiting (female) Morus rubra selection from Hopkinsville, KY introduced by Lucky Pittman. Fruits described as plump and tasty but not quite as large as the fruits of Illinois Everbearing. Tested as pure Morus rubra, according to a 2022 SARE grant.
Spillway — fruiting (female) Morus rubra selection from Lucky Pittman in Kentucky. Tested as pure Morus rubra according to the 2022 SARE grant.
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Good to see a nursery offering some real rubras! Does anyone know more about this one?
- Daugherty #2 — monoecious Morus rubra selection from Georgia which produces both male (staminate) and female (fruiting) flowers.
Edit: I had sort of overlooked this about Daugherty #2.
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