Quote:
Originally Posted by echinosum
I've had Cornus mas variegata and Cornus kousa chinensis about the same length of time...................
It sounds like your mulberries are Morus rubra rather than M nigra, but (unlike M alba) they are supposed to be just as good to eat. You are correct that M rubra is dioecious, but M nigra is self-fertile. M rubra is not often grown in Britain. It naturally grows in New England, so I imagine it is very hardy.
I agree with growing unusual things when normal things are so cheap in the shops. I've wanted to try Asimina triloba, but it seems very tricky to get hold of the plants, they have to be put in final position very young...........
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Thanks very much, that's just the kind of info I needed. I've taken the liberty of saving your reply to my data files so that I can refer back to it. Clearly I need to grow Cornus kousa, and will put that on my shopping list.
I do think the Mulberry Capsrum is a cultivar of Morus rubra, but the other,
Illinois Everbearing is a nigra x rubra hybrid. I bought some Morus nigra seed from Thompson & Morgan about 25 years ago. They produced fine trees, very upright, and now over 35 feet tall, but not one flower or fruit, so
I was not surprised by Mary's comment.
I grew my Pawpaws from seed, started in a propagator, but yes they do have to get planted out fairly soon, because they have a very deep tap root.
My very mixed 'orchard' has a sandy soil, hence the hawthorn rootstocks for the pears, the south facing land slopes steeply, dropping over 60 ft to the water meadow and the river. It is grassed underfoot, which I try to keep cut, but never shorter than 1-2 inches, and regularly patrolled by a flock of guinea fowl hunting for insects. In all there is about 12 acres of 'garden', as
separate from the farm.