That’s cool. I’m hoping to get fruit off my nigra Tsarigradska mulberry from Bulgaria. Next year. Grows in zone 6. I need to test hardiness as the zone 6 (6b) is comes from is warmer than my zone 6 (6a) I’m protecting it for now till I can get some scion from it to graft to in ground rootstock. I can harvest this winter and the rootsock was planted last spring. So I will be grafting it in the spring.
I suggest you reach out to @Drew51
I have also heard Oikos claimed to have a nigra for zone 6 as well
Oikos unfortunately went out of business during COVID from the email I received.
Mine have begun setting as well and I’m looking forward to the fruit… although I challenge the saying that it’s a no-work tree haha, I have to work very hard to keep them from reproducing all over my tiny little yard!
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Thank you! It is one of my select seedlings with larger fruits and heavier yields. There are several more i’m developing. Another one is amazing as well! The @39thparallel orchard nearby grows illinois everbearing and other large fruited types. I’m considering trying more crosses soon using some other berries and will keep you posted. These seedlings are becoming a topic of conversation in my area, but in comparison to the fruit size of illinois everbearing, i’m nowhere close yet! My berries are only 3/4" - 1" . This is the competition Illinois Everbearing Mulberry — Raintree Nursery
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Munched on a bunch of IE berries yesterday while I was grafting onto some pecan understocks nearby. Those IE berries are hard to beat for overall flavor!
My best M.rubra selection is just beginning to ripen a few berries. Have not had a chance to check, closely, the other cultivars growing here, but I’m seeing/hearing bird frenzy, so I suspect they’re beginning to ripen, as well.
Popcorn Disease is present on IE, but not so severe as in some seasons past.
There is an ongoing SARE-funded project looking for superior Morus rubra selections in the wild, for preservation and breeding purposes. Reports I’m seeing suggest that hybrids with M.rubra as the male parent appear to be more ‘fit’, with regard to fruit quality. Over the past year and a half, I’ve been keeping an eye out for roadside rubras, and have identified at least a couple more females to add to my collection, and a number of males that may be of interest to folks who are attempting to breed pure M.rubra or new hybrids.
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It is an interesting year with not as many birds hitting my berries. Usually, they destroy my mulberries, but this year either production is high enough or they are off bothering someone else. I’ve sent Gerardi wood out to about a dozen people here over the years and mine continues to do well with “no work”. Mine only gets about half day sun, but still puts out an impressive amount of fruit.
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‘Stearns’ mulberry. I’ve had this cultivar for 15 yrs or more, but it was as a low, heavily-shaded branch in a large ‘Lawson Dawson’ tree, and never fared well. Rooted a cutting of it 4 years ago, and planted it in a full-sun location near the house. This is its first time fruiting for me as a free-standing tree. Nice fruit size, and great flavor!
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I get quite a few bird-deposited seedlings at my house and see them other places as well. I am not sure they are from my Gerardi though and I’ve never felt any crunch of seeds in the Gerardi fruit so I’m not sure if those have viable seeds. Are mulberry seeds tiny and I wouldn’t notice?
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