Several people I know are big fans of Illinois everbearing.
Iām not saying that IE is bad- it was one of the better ones for me last year. Just that Oscar was even better.
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How long do Oscar Mulberries ripen for? IE is said to produce berries continuously for 2-3 months.
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How are sapsuckers with these trees? Notsomuch the fruit, but rather the bark and sap? I have a large crabapple tree out front that they have completely girdled over the last few years and the entire tree looks like itās been in the firing range. Iād like to plant an IE in its place, but donāt want it to suffer the same fate.
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Thank you!
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Iāve never had any die-back from it. But, Iām in zone 6/7. According to OGW and Raintree (where I got it from), it is zone 5-9.
Iām not sure. I think it was several weeks last year, but not 2-3 months. I planted Oscar and Kokuso in 2013, but last year was the first time I got more than 3-4 berries. Everything else was eaten by birds, often before fully ripening. To make it stranger, I also got Oscar from another tree at a rental property in a different town, which was much more recent (~2018). Maybe the birds were too occupied with cicadas last year and let the mulberries slip a bit. And it wasnāt just Oscar- I got to sample quite a few of the other varieties too (IE, Wellington, Kokuso, Taiwanese Everbearing, etc). Iāll be interested to see if the trend repeats again this year. They should start ripening in the next few weeks.
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Bob,
Do you have Pakistan? If so, whatās the taste compared to Oscar? I think Pakistan may not survive my zone 6a.
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@clarkinks ā¦ How do you keep the birds out of yours? The Cedar Waxwings are absolutely bonkers for my mulberries. They break through the netting no matter what we do. Our tree is a long way from the house which makes it hard to catch the thievesš”
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Have well over 100 mulberry trees they can eat all they want and bring their friends we still have to many.
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I think it is iffy in our climate. I had a graft at the rental that didnāt survive. But I also had a graft at home (generally a bit colder) which has been OK since grafting in 2017. I got a few fruit from it last year and they were an impressive novelty. Huge, and moderately sweet, but not many of them. I thought it was sweeter than Kokuso, but it doesnāt measure up to Oscar, which is sweet-tart like a good blackberry/raspberry.
Note that there was only 1 Pakistan in the picā¦I only had 3-4 total for the year, while the other mulberries were more prolific.
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Thanks, Bob. I am considering plant an Oscar in ground (it is hardy to zone 5, right?
And either a Pakistan or a Girardi in ground. Which would you choose?
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As reported by nurseries. No issues for me, but Iām not in zone 5ā¦But, keep in mind that it will grow big if you let it. Regular chainsaw pruning could be needed.
Girardi, as it is a lot easier to keep it contained, very productive, and pretty good fruit. And Pakistan seems a bit iffy here. You can put a Pakistan graft on it for the novelty. 
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My Oscar is fruiting heavily this year and is one of my favourites also among my dozens of cuitivars
Other of my favourites and i just grafted it last year a scion from @Marta is mapple leaf mulberry.
Its trully excepcional
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IE and other āeverbearingā mulberries bear for about 6 weeks here, in 2-3 āflushesā.
2-3 monthsā¦ thatās a dream.
IE is in full swing with its first flush right now. Some Popcorn disease, but less than in recent years (so far).
Lawson Dawson is not far behind.
Silk Hope berries are still green.
āCorralā, a presumptive IE seedling, and its nearby sib are dropping red/mostly unripe fruits.
Various hybrids and near-pure albas, all purchased from the KY Div. of Forestry nursery as āRed Mulberryā, and planted out along fencelines in the pastures, some years back are bearing heavily. None Iāve sampled yet are āwinnersā. I need to give the males and white-fruited females a decapitation and sex-change operation.
I pruned out Kokuso last year - it was just a couple of low branches, in the way of vehicular trafficā¦ the berries were always pretty unimpressive hereā¦ fairly big, lavendar, with little flavor.
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IE still green here. Yes, bears fruit for about 6 weeks.
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It might just be the pic, but those Oscar looked a bit under-ripe, though they can be eaten that way and are still good. You might like them even more if you let them get a bit darker. Of course, the birds may eat them by then, so it is a bit of trade-off.
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Iām 6b/7a and Pakistan has survived fine. It struggles a little with the wild spring temp shifts. Some years have minor branch die back. Branch die back is no big deal though, because Pak is by far the fastest growing mulberry I have. Mine is on itās own roots in the event it ever does die to the ground.
Iāve got IE (several), Pak, Kokuso, Collier, and Tahama White. Silk Hope died on me. To me they are all good and really the difference is the amount of acid.
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