I had a mystery one growing up wild that I put in a pot for fun. It grew quickly but I kept reading about white mulberry being invasive in my area and displacing the native red mulberry, so I got rid of it. It seemed more likely to be white mulberry or at least a hybrid. Because the leaves weren’t hairy. Did I do the right thing? 
I don’t know how to graft or anything so I wonder how the fruit would have been, if it ever was going to fruit.
Morus alba was planted widely centuries ago and has already spread to basically every corner of the North American continent where it can grow, I think that ship has sailed and there’s no reason to avoid growing alba at this point.
they’re not as popular but my red mulberry, taken from a real isolated spot from a mama red, is finally setting berries plural. finally. I think I’ve had it in for 5 or 6 years with no fruit or flower.
my black/alba cross is leafing out right now, and the Illinois is too. they have more flavor but not the nostalgic thing going on
it’s a red since it’s from a really old stand in a isolated spot in the woods where I grew up. there’s no cultivated land within miles. plus the flavor is spot on, I was unsure until last year. I don’t mind alba obviously as I’ve got two crosses planted nearby (and another out front for the birds) but I wanted this one as it’s a sucker from a tree I picked from when I was a kid
@FruitTreeAddict , just curious, do you know if anyone has grown “Lakeland Tropical” successfully in Zone 5b? I might grab a Illinois Everbearing and curious if anything else interesting is worth growing up there other than that one. I saw your Youtube Video on “Lakeland Tropical” and it looked loaded and also branches were drooping so can easily grab the fruit it looks like. but you are in Florida so wasn’t sure if i should risk ordering it from OneGreenWorld.
Hi, I am not sure if Lakeland tropical will take zone 5. I would say yes because it is very similar to my Jans Best and it has been proven in zone 5a for 3 years now in the ground. I didn’t know one green world sold Lakeland tropical so that’s fantastic 
I’m in SoCal, but am growing most of the mulberry varieties and I do noticed that Sangue e Latte (from Italy) mulberry comes out of dormancy the latest. It is about 1 month later than all the others I have growing on my trees. You might want to look into the Sangue e Latte since it might work for you. Taste wise, it is one of my top 3 best tasting for me.
@george … thanks … i will look into that one.
Not coming out of dormancy too early is important here…
A top 3 for you taste wise… sounds like it is more than just sweet… but has very good flavor.
Another big plus for me… i want strong flavor and a good mix of sweet and preferably some tartness in a ripe berry. That is ideal to me.
Can you describe the berry size and production.
I may be about maxed out on mulberries now.
Greardi, Silk Hope, Oscar, Kip Parker, Lawson Dawson… is a pretty good collection.
Thanks
A question to anyone who has picked wild mulberries: do you ever get off flavors? I know a lot of the wild ones can be bland or tart, but today I picked some berries from a tree that was looking promising with an incredibly heavy crop and was surprised with how strong the flavor was. But after a few berries I started getting a weird off flavor, almost like a disinfectant, something a bit gasoline or rubber like, hard to describe. That off flavor stayed in my mouth for a good ten minutes after I quit eating. Pretty unpleasant, and a real bummer because this tree would be really nice otherwise.
Anyone have similar experiences?
I’ve had that taste when they’re near enough to a road or farm acreage where they’ve sprayed. almost like I’m tasting an oil.
Yeah, this one is by a road and a parking lot…
yep maybe asphalt was laid down, or something got sprayed or dumped there. I would take cuttings if the fruit was otherwise good, and try to root them to plant in a safer spot or at home
We are growing Issai, Everbearing Dwarf, Carmen, Illinois Everbearing, plus a wild “red”. It was only this year we learned that most mulberries don’t compare to the flavor of the native red mulberry. Flavor profile is deep and intense, without that “grassy fragrance” flavor of some of the cultivars. Haven’t tried Carmen or Illinois Everbearing yet.
Red mulberry berries are large and the red mulberry doesn’t seem to ever get the silk worm infestation with no spray
I attached a picture of ripe fruits from the mother tree, birds are beating us to the ripe ones this year.
I have a 3 year old Pakistan and Everbearing. Planted another everbearing last spring, and grafted Sangue e Latte to it this spring. Then a 3 year old White mulberry seedlings turned out to be a male so I grafted another Sangue e Latte and a White Persian to it this spring. I also planted a White Pakistan this spring. The pic is of the only berry I tasted from the Sangue e Latte that the birds didn’t get to… I didn’t have much of a sample size, but it reminded me of a typical white mulberry flavor with a hint of Jamaican Cherry. So unique and so good!
Hmm Jamaican Cherry. I haven’t tried that before but that is an interesting flavor in a mulberry. Do you have any pictures of your Sangue e Latte tree/graft? I have gotten fruit this year from White Ivory from Whitman Farms and it is also very good. I would like to see how similar the trees look. Thanks!
Edited to app pic
These pics are from about a week ago. I will be back at the property in mid June and get better/updated pics. For the Bark grafted tree pic, the left is White Persian, and the right is Sangue e Latte. (Opposite orientation in the background of the taller Sangue e Latte pic)
I am also guessing the one berry I tried could’ve been very slightly under-ripe since it was the only one left by the birds. They didn’t touch the White Persian, so I think that hint of purple was enough to attract them lol
Thanks for the pics! Leaves and growth habit look different but they are both small so who knows 
. White Ivory seems to have more alba characterize than yours. It is very sweet and has a kind of richness to it. Hard to describe.
That’s amazing that the fruit was that good at that stage as it seems quite under ripe. And lucky the birds missed those white ones. Sometimes I feel like I’m just feeding birds with the fruit I grow . Surprisingly a lot of the bird pressure has left my yard for some reason.
@Lucas Maybe next winter we can trade scions of the White Ivory for Sangue e Latte? I live in SoCal too. The property with my trees is in AZ.
Where did you find sangue e latte? Would love to get some wood if you want to trade - albas I have White Ivory, Honeydrops, Galacija, Narechena and Hartoot
Sounds good. I am up for it. I have been successful grafting green wood, too, if you’d like to try earlier for your trip to AZ.
