Mulberry fans, would you say Illinois Everbearing is actually notably different in taste from the stuff that grows in the wild, or does it just have a longer bearing season? I’m looking to improve my local stock, but most of the non-nigra descriptions sound pretty much to the same to me.
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I think IE is much better tasting than what grows wild here. I love the flavor. I only wish they didn’t have such a tough inner core.
Many are bigger and more productive. I forage for wild mulberries, but so far only one tree was decent, one was actually terrible. I found 4 or 5 trees. From other users I would like to try Oscar, Silk Hope, and Wellington.
We have lots of good wild ones around here, and some not so good.
IE is pretty good tasting… maybe average to slightly better than average. But the longer season and productivity sounds awesome. My tree is still young… so I have not seen it bear for a long season yet.
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IE dormant cuttings root fairly easily but not as easily as shangri la. Mine is only a 1 year old rooted cutting so I can’t compare the flavor to our wilds but shangri la is way better than our wilds. I also heard great things about silk hope. I tried to root some silk hope cuttings last year but 0 took maybe someday I’ll graft one or buy one.
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It is the best I’ve had of hardy types- not as good as ones I’ve tasted in CA, of course. Their long bearing period makes them sub-par for harvesting for preserves or serious culinary efforts (putting pies away in the freezer and such) but it’s awesome for the mulberry forager like me. It also provides a very long season of easy squirrel target practice- they love the fruit so much that they lose track of the world around them. Bang!
I have Oscar, which bears its huge crops in a fraction of the time- it isn’t as sweet a IE as it performs here but they both have that acid-sugar balance that makes them better tasting to me than the typical sub-acid natives and clearly better as culinary fruit.
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I agree with Alan. Many of the mulberries I’ve seen in parks and yards are quite bland. IE is really quite good. I prefer my black mulberry, but most on this list can’t grow them.
JohN S
PDX OR
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Most of the good wild mulberries are mixes of alba and the native red mulberry . More productive than the red mulberry and better flavor than alba . I have found several good ones .
Is there any easy way to distinguish between albas, reds, and hybrids?
The reds have a large heart shaped leaf that is rough to the touch . Hand sized leaf . Hybrids will show varying leaf shapes . Multi generation crosses will show a mix of traits . I have one here that is tasty but fruit is alba sized and mostly alba like leaves with enough variation to know it is mixed . The fruit of reds is long compared to alba .
When do IE usually wake up in the spring? I planted one last yr but the deer got to it late summer. Rubbed a lot of bark off and ate the branches back. It struggle through until winter… now I fear it didn’t make it.
i agree. IE is a good choice if you can’t grow nigras. However, it may not be an option for those with little room for a big, vigorous tree.
Mine is just now waking. Buds are pushing but no leaf yet. Zone 8a
Katy
Thanks. I’m 6a so it might be little while longer.
I’ve had an IE killed that way- the deer defoliated it at the wrong time. Deer love mulberry leaves more than any other species I grow so need to be protected in deer country until they are strong and high.
The leaves, especially the young ones, are edible for humans. I’ll throw one in the sauerkraut, but they are kind of fibrous and not that tasty. Kind of like tilia, birch or hawthorn. Probably great for your gut microbiome, but not the first thing you want to have a beer wash down.
John S
PDX OR
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I should have found this thread before leaving my IE unprotected. I planted my IE about a month ago and it took off with much new growth. Unfortunately I checked on it today and every single leaf has been eaten off of it by deer!! Irritating, but tomorrow I will put a cage around it. I’m not sure if it will even survive at this point. Too much deer and not enough of them are iraticated during deer hunting season. The season needs to be year round. Smh.
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When a deer killed one of mine it happened later in the season. There may still be enough time for the tree to recoup.
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Yeah. Good to hear. I sure hope so. Rookie move on my part, Cage going up tomorrow. Damn deer.
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Yeah, I used to think I hated deer… but then squirrels taught me what real hate is.
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