My front yard is dominated by a a large non-fruiting Mulberry, so I naturally thought I'd add a few more Mulberry trees to my acre. In researching the species, I discovered one that produces 3 to 5 inch "berries." The Pakistan Mulberry I planted in the fall of 2012 as a 6 foot bare root has struggled here. Don't know if it where I planted it, or if it's the sand in which it is planted (amended at planting time, of course). In 2013 it only put up stalks from the base of the plant. They seemed to make it through the 2013 winter without much damage (I'm in zone 8b but we are at 3,500 foot altitude and it can get to 20 degrees here--just NOT this past winter). A local expert (who is from Iraq, BTW) pronounced last year that my tree was a "male," based on the leaves. I shrugged and decided it would be a nice shade tree for that hot corner of the property. This spring I noticed that the tree was growing some substantial berries. Hmmm, a male, eh? Turns out the expert was NOT an expert and the short, young tree produced several berries the past two months. They are large and they are delicious. We look forward to a larger harvest from a larger tree. It will make excellent jams and pies. Try one.
