I was getting Lawson dawson scions for 7a, but someone can weigh in how disease resistant it is
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Lucky Pittman is the OS for Lawson Dawson found near his home in Kentucky. It should be fine in 7A.
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Silk hope can have vigor issues and must be grafted. Lawson Dawson seems like a better option imo, though Silk Hope may ripen later
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The Lawson Dawson ortet is an old tree (well over 50 yrs) that was undoubtedly a random seedling that popped up in the fenceline in the corner of a barnlot at the intersection of KY Hwy 91 and Lawson Dawson Rd., about 10 miles from my home (pic). The barnlot fence has been removed, but the tree was allowed to remain.
A co-worker who cut hay off the Dawson farm introduced me to the fruit. It benefits from fertilization, as the ortet, which benefitted from cattle lounging (and pooping and peeing) in its shade, produced larger, juicier, more flavorful berries than my oldest graft, located out in the yard, bereft of livestock fertilization.
I’ve had grafts of Lawson Dawson growing here for well over 20 years, within a couple hundred feet of my original Illinois Everbearing trees that have been consistently afflicted with Popcorn Disease every year, and it has never displayed any PD infection. Mulberry/white peach scale has been present here for several years, but LD has been minimally affected. Silk Hope, on the other hand, has been significantly impacted by scale, and seems to have difficulty throwing off the infestation.
‘Lawson Dawson’ is an almost-but-not-quite-everbearing mulberry… it will do at least two flushes of fruit, covering most all of June and well into July. Flavor is good. It has been hardy to z4 in Vermont.
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My Gerardi this evening… Loaded… and no frost in my 10 day.
I got first fruits from Lawson Dawson last year and they were very good.
First fruits from Gerardi were quite bland.
My Lawson Dawson has lots of fruit on now… can’t wait to try them.. and Kip Parker this year.
TNHunter
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Mine too. And second. And third. And fourth. . . . Now the trees are gone. I hope you do better in your climate.
I’ll be interested in how Lawson Dawson does for you. It’s the only variety that I can imagine adding (I’ve got 6 others). Question is whether it performs better overall than IE, Oscar, Silk Hope, Shangri-La. Also have Kokuso and Honeydrops but I doubt they can compete.
@jrd51 … yes.. based on my experience last year.. I would not recommend Gerardi for someone that regularly has cooler and wetter climate (for Gerardi ripening period).
In year 3 for my Gerardi we had good heat and less rain than usual and the fruit was absolutely delicious. Complex fruity flavor both sweet and tart.
Last year in year 4.. it was cooler than normal and rained profusely when they were ripening… and the flavor barely qualified as good.
If you regularly have hot and dry late spring - early summer… you will be very happy with Gerardi. If not you will probably be disappointed.
It looks like this may be another good Gerardi year for me. We have heat and dry already.
TNHunter
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Good analysis. It’s rarely hot and dry here in early summer, when Gerardi ripens. In the same conditions, Illinois Everbearing is way better.
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My year 2 Lawson Dawson (top) and Kip Parker (bottom).
If you zoom in you can see some of the fruit set.
I think LD has a little better / denser fruit set at this point.
I am expecting good flavor from both of these.. I will keep you all posted.
TNHunter
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‘Lawson Dawson’ fruits. Buzz had suggested renaming it ‘Raspberry Parfait’, but it had already been so widely distributed as LD, that I didn’t see the utility in renaming it.
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Where did you get your Lawson Dawson? It doesn’t seem to be widely sold but I’ve talked with Humnle Abode about it next year and it seems Perfect circle sells it as well.
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Eme, read the thread. Lucky Pittman found it growing in an old fence row several miles from his home in KY.
@Eme… I got my LD scions in a trade year before last. I forget who from now.
I sent out several sticks of it this winter and should again next winter. I will be glad to send you some if you will just remind me about December.
TNHunter
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Yes I saw that, which is really cool. I was hoping to buy it as a tree already grafted, since I don’t have a mulberry already where it will go. Sounds like most are just grafting it.
@TNHunter thank you for the offer! I’ll be in touch if I don’t get it from humble abode.
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@Eme… yes.. I grafted mine to a BRN (Burnt Ridge Nursery) russian mulberry rootstock.
The rootstock cost me 5 bucks.
It was late in the spring and they had just marked them down price wise.
TNHunter
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Oh wow! Thanks for the tip.
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LD roots from cuttings
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TNHunter
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I have had some success rooting LD from early midsummer (July 1) cuttings, but I’ve not invested a lot of care in them, so if I gave a little more TLC, they might do better.
I’ve mostly done mass strikes- maybe 10 or so per low wide pot, but survival of rooted cuttings after transfer to individual pots has been near Zero, so I think you’re best served doing them in individual pots from the outset, or letting them grow an additional season before trying to move to individual pots.
LD has a very characteristic rough, almost ‘bubbly’ bark; I can pick out leafless LD scions from any other cultivar based on that feature. I’ve never encountered another mulberry with that trait.
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