I’ll second Chills’ caution.
I had a (now deceased) friend in Flint MI who said that IE was the sorriest mulberry he’d ever grown. He sent me scions of his favorite, which he’d purchased as ‘Pakistan’, but it wasn’t… it was just ‘meh’ for me… not good enough to keep, and certainly not in the same league with IE, as grown here. ‘Wellington’ generally gets good reviews, and I’ve seen enticing photos, but the one I purchased, 25+ years ago (maybe not true to name?) is not worth the bother to pick… even the birds don’t really flock to it.
I love IE, but lose at least a portion of the crop to Popcorn Disease, every year. Silk Hope, Lawson Dawson, and Stearns are worth having.
Kokuso was just so-so for me, large berries, but not especially flavorful… but mine were just a couple of low branches in a larger M.alba… if it had been a free-standing tree in full sun, it may have been better.
My local M.rubra selection, ‘Harmony Grove’, is really, really good this year.
Dixie Everbearing, Boyleston Everbearing, and Kip Parker were grafted here last year… @thecityman’s ‘Orlinda’ will probably make enough growth (again) to fruit next year. Time will tell as to which are good performers here.
A native Red Mulberry will taste better than any dwarfing variety in my opinion and has a hardiness zone of 3-8. You can make any mulberry dwarf-ish with pruning.
My initial Harmony Grove graft died but it looks like the second one might make it. Very excited for it. I have seen others mention that the rubras make superior tasting fruit, do you share that sentiment, @Lucky_P ?
Follow on to that question: how does it compare to L-D, Silk Hope and IE? And does it everbear over a period of time or have one big flush? Finally does it fruit at the same time as Rubra hybrids or before?
I’ve never had a bad M.rubra fruit, but some are much better than others.
‘Harmony Grove’ M.rubra fruits this year are as tasty as any of the hybrids; most years, they are good, but more ‘dry’ than the hybrids.
I don’t know but I attached my screenshot that shows the natural range based on the usda vs the usda grow zone map. It may be risky in the zone 3 but it’s definitely worth considering for someone growing in zones 4/5.
