Hi,
We are zone 5 and have a lot of space with full sun. We currently have 2 IE, a “white ivory,” and 2 Gerardi. I am looking for ideas on what other varieties to add (I would love to add a nigra or two, but they won’t work here and don’t want to do pots). How would you rank Oscar, Varaha, Lawson-Dawson, Silk Hope and others? So looking for a few ideas for our zone and we are not limited by tree size (lots of space with full sun). Thanks in advance.
If you have a lot of space, I would suggest ordering rootstock and putting in ground and go to grafting with desired Cold hardy varieties.
https://www.burntridgenursery.com/RUSSIAN-MULBERRY-SEEDLING-Morus-alba-tatarica/productinfo/NSMURUS/
I’m in Zone 6B. Kokuso, ILE, Day White have fruited, ILE was the best among these three. I also intend to graft several other varieties coming spring including Oscar, Silk hope, World’s best etc.
Kokuso:
ILE:
I am in south central TN and so far only have gerardi. I grafted it this spring and it has grown over 6 ft so far and is quite bushy. It likes my heat i think.
I plan to add silk hope soon… they are supposed to be very good for hot humid south east… resiatent to popcorn disease.
I watch jan doolin on youtube … she grows lots of mulberry varieties… but she is in central FL zone 9b.
She has a Jan’s Best… that looks really good… but not sure how far north it would do well. I am in zone 7a here in TN.
Good luck.
Found this online on Jan’s Best…
Notice the statement at the end… confirmation it survived a winter in 5a location. Surly it would work for me here in 7a.
In my experience, cultivar performance from place to place may vary considerably.
I’m in southern west-central KY - about 70 miles NW of Nashville TN - zone 6 b, but only about 20 miles north of the interface with zone 7.
Silk Hope is my best.
Illinois Everbearing is hard to beat, but Popcorn Disease is a problem. I have a presumed IE seedling, Corral, that is, IMO, equal to IE, and has not (yet) had an issue with Popcorn disease.
Wellington is a POS here.
I had Kokuso for years, but it was just…meh… not very flavorful, and my fruits never passed the pale lavendar stage of the attached berries in Anjeerfarmer’s photos above. Removed it last year.
Had Collier years ago, but some disaster befell it. Re-grafted it last year. Grafted Oscar’s and Gerardi this year, so I can’t report on those yet.
I introduced Lawson Dawson (ortet is 10 miles from my home), and like it well; It benefits mightily(maybe others do as well) from fertilization - the ortet was growing in the corner of a barnlot, so cattle lounged (and peed and pooped, prodigiously) beneath it. The two LD trees in my barnlot produce larger, tastier berries than the one out in the yard, surrounded only by lawn. It appears to be z4 hardy, as it’s been through a few VT winters at Buzz Ferver’s Perfect Circle Farm.
I am in 8a. I have tried a few and many of them were hardy enough to survive, but flowered too early and got bud/flower bun. The Silk Hope I have works well and is hugely productive. I recommend it highly.
Sounds like silk hope and Lawson-Dawson should be tried and maybe some Jan’s everbearing in between them since they are smallish
Does anyone have thoughts on Oscar vs silk hope and Lawson-Dawson?
Perfect circle is about an hour from us and it is a good sign he can grow it. Our microclimate is zone 5 (and not 4 like he is even though we are more north) because we are close to the water of Lake Champlain
I also would plant them in a huge compost/manure hole and Indo urine fert so good to know
Thanks
Call Lucile at Whitman Farms she is the best.
https://www.whitmanfarms.com/category/allplants/edible-plants/mulberries/
My Gerardis and white ivory came from her. She is a great resource for mulberries and others.
Any thoughts on how Oscar compares to silk hope, Lawson-Dawson and others. Also growingmulberry.org lists Oscar as zone 6 so any thoughts If they are being conservative. It appears some in zone 5 have an Oscar.
Thanks
Lucky,
I found this in a different thread
“Kokuso here is just sweet with not much flavor, but I see others here raving on it.
Silk Hope is tops here; Stearns and Lawson Dawson probably tie for close second, Ill. Everbearing is good, but gets popcorn dz badly. Collier just didn’t grow well here for some reason…died out twice.”
Could you please expand on Stearns and what makes it superior? it is not a variety I know much about at all. How is it different from L-D and IE?
Thanks
I am adding Oscar and Silk Hope in the spring and maybe a few more (varaha, lawson-dawson, stearns?)
Stearns… scions came from Ted Daniecki, well over ten years ago… but in a recent phone conversation with Ted, he swears he’s never heard of it, never had it.
It appears to be a rubraXalba hybrid, comparable to IE. I might need to retract my recommendation of it for a bit, 'til I see what it does as a free-standing tree - it’s just been a couple of large branches in my oldest Lawson Dawson tree, until I rooted a cutting and planted it to replace an uncharacteristically slow-growing bur oak that was taking too much time to provide shade to the front porch (2 years out, the mulberry is almost as big as the 25 yr old oak) .
thanks - there is no mention of Stearns on www.growingmulberry.org so I was curious. next summer it would be great to compare it to IE and L-D. thanks
