What would you recommend for zone 4? I would like to grow some mulberry trees. We had 2 at a neighborhood pool when I was a kid. I remember my feet being blue from stepping in fallen ones, but enjoyed eating them off the tree. Does anyone have some grafted trees I could purchase?
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I can’t comment on the fruit yet but for survivability my Russian Mulberry is growing slowly in a 4B Canadian climate zone.
My seedling mulberry seem great which i use frequently to graft over males and types stingy on the berries. Fruit set is heavy and timing is spaced apart so the birds will stay busy and away from my cherries and juneberries!
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Mulberries are turning right on time with the cherries and juneberries! That will keep the birds busy! I taught the dog to eat the berries off the tree like the coyotes do. In case anything ever happens to me the dog can survive on his own until someone figures out what happened. Coyotes eat plenty of mulberries and i grow these trees primarily for the wildlife. With over 100 mulberry trees many animals and birds see my place as an oasis of food, water, and safety. Not many people like me left. Im not concerned with growing enough food for me , friends, family or the animals in this sometimes harsh land of plenty. If we work with nature and not against it fruits such as mulberry are grown spray free and yield so much fruit it lays on the ground because nothing can eat anymore! We are very blessed!
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True no work. Foraged from a local city park.
A rubra or alba or hybrid, I don’t have any idea. The fruit is very sweet with some nice tartness until it’s completely black. Huge tree., 70ft across.
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someday i hope to have that here.
Did your IEB’s root?
i checked them 2 weeks ago . i had buds starting to break but no roots yet. they’re on the north side of the house in the shade. been keeping them watered. still at leaf out so I’m hopeful. i also put 3 grafts on my russian mulberry but no action yet. they are still green though.
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the last frost burnt the breaking buds on my northrop mulberry but there we many others that haven’t wakened up yet that are just starting to grow out now. did come from CT so they are quite a bit ahead of us.
We have what looks like a white mulberry volunteer. ( I’m going by leaf shape since the mulberries are quite distinctive. First couple of years it had their usual shape and now has the more heart shaped= female? )
This thread is making me seriously consider keeping/moving it!
I did find a lovely large one in a public space that I considered raiding but I wasn’t able to get over it being in a graveyard.
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Mulberry size comparison and taste
Top row is Oscar. Very sweet and tasty.
Middle row is Kokuso. As tasty as Oscar. Very good.
Bottom row is Girardi. Taste good but a tad under Oscar and Kokuso in taste.
Kokuso
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Girardi produced quite nicely (for the first time) this year.
As Tony mentions, fruit is quite good but to my taste Nigra which ripens later is much better.
To me, Girardi is a small mulberry – I was hoping Kokuso would be larger but from the photo looks like the same size or even smaller.
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How do you get so many fruit? Did you cover these trees, Tony? The birds ravaged mine so I only got a few.
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No covering. The Che grafted on Mulberry experiment failed to take so I bark grafted 9 large wild Mulberry understocks to 3 Oscars, 3 Girardi, and 3 Kokuso Mulberry trees. The birds had their shared. The Kokuso leaves are huge as the size of a small plate so the berries are well covered.
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Niiiice… i hope its mulberry season for me next year after all my cultivars been put on the ground this year 
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Tony, do you think the flavor of Kokuso or Oscar is so much better that you would plant those instead of Gerardi if you have the choice? I’m removing a fig tree that isn’t producing and could easily put Gerardi in its spot, but now I’m debating on whether I should find a spot for a big tree like Kokuso, Silk Hope, etc.
I’ve only tasted wild mulberries which didn’t have much flavor. But people are saying these varieties are better than blackberries, which is making me excited. I got a box of Prime Ark blackberries from the market yesterday, so if these are better we will be in for a treat in a few years.
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Reviving this thread to get some opinion on Pakistan mulberry. I tasted a handful of fruits from a second leaf tree and the taste is just pure sugar - no other flavor. It is struggling and I’m watering it more than normal but wondering if I got the wrong variety. Do others who’ve tried this fruit find it more complex?
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It’s a jumbo maroon-colored white mulberry. What it lacks in complexity, it makes up in size and sweetness. To me it’s a keeper. It’s my wife’s favorite. It is not Morus nigra!
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