North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Douglas Woodard <dwoodard@becon.org>]

I recall a poster saying that Morus nigra seedlings were close to their 
parents. I don't remember anyone saying that Morus alba selections with 
high fruit quality produced seedlings similar in fruit quality to the 
parents.

The late Ed Robinson of Gaybird Nursery at Wawanesa, Manitoba in zone 3b 
used to sell a hardy morus alba for fruit, so hardy selections are not 
unknown.

However, it looks to me as if Helene has a M. alba highly selected on 
two counts, or maybe a tree with mixed M. alba and M. rubra ancestry. I 
think her aim should be to reproduce it clonally if possible to begin 
with. Growing seedlings would be interesting but likely chancy.

Doug Woodard
St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada


Hélène Dessureault wrote:
> Thank you to the group for sharing information about mulberry. I find 
> interesting to know that seedlings should be close to the parent. There 
> is no doubt about the hardiness of this tree and my memory of the fruits 
> is quite favorable. I will go back in a months time to collect berries, 
> check and compare. If this tree is a seedling, I could collect suckers 
> during dormancy and transplant them in good garden soil. I have had 
> success in the past with this type of rooting done late in the Fall. I 
> will air dry some fruits to send seeds to interested parties, if this 
> tree proves to be of worthwhile interest for colder climate.
>  
> Hélène, zone 3-4, north of Ottawa