I have a male and female Mulberry trees planted side-by-side in
Phoenix, AZ. They have been beautiful for almost thirty years. Why
doesn't at least one bear fruit? While vacationing in Pennsylvania
this summer, I ate my first Mulberries directly from a tree. I had no
idea what they were, but having eaten myself sick on blackberries as a
child, I couldn't resist. By the way, I found ticks in my hair the
next morning. Hadn't had those since childhood in the South either.
Thanks.

I recall eating mulberries as a kid was something of a rite of passage.
Mothers did not care too much for their kids to come home all
purple-stained. When taking walks in a park and the mulberries are
ripe it is a treat to eat a few and see the gawking from onlookers who
think I'm crazy for eating unknown fruit (to them). Ditto for wild
sweet cherries (Prunus avium). A few years back as an assistant scout
master I found that the scouts had no idea what a mulberry tree was.
Most learned to recognize poison ivy however. ;-)

Thanks for the memory of mulberries. :-)


jj wrote:
I have a male and female Mulberry trees planted side-by-side in
Phoenix, AZ. They have been beautiful for almost thirty years. Why
doesn't at least one bear fruit? While vacationing in Pennsylvania
this summer, I ate my first Mulberries directly from a tree. I had no
idea what they were, but having eaten myself sick on blackberries as a
child, I couldn't resist. By the way, I found ticks in my hair the
next morning. Hadn't had those since childhood in the South either.
Thanks.

In article .com,
says...
I have a male and female Mulberry trees planted side-by-side in
Phoenix, AZ. They have been beautiful for almost thirty years. Why
doesn't at least one bear fruit? While vacationing in Pennsylvania
this summer, I ate my first Mulberries directly from a tree. I had no
idea what they were, but having eaten myself sick on blackberries as a
child, I couldn't resist. By the way, I found ticks in my hair the
next morning. Hadn't had those since childhood in the South either.
Thanks.


Thirty years is about the time when fruitless mulberries were popular to
plant as a fast growing shade tree (twenty-five years ago is about the
time of thinking "Why the hell would anyone plant a fruitless mulberry
tree" came around. Possibly the wrong trees were planted for you/sold
to you.
--
Lar

to email...get rid of the BUGS

"jj" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have a male and female Mulberry trees planted side-by-side in
Phoenix, AZ. They have been beautiful for almost thirty years. Why
doesn't at least one bear fruit? While vacationing in Pennsylvania
this summer, I ate my first Mulberries directly from a tree. I had no
idea what they were, but having eaten myself sick on blackberries as a
child, I couldn't resist. By the way, I found ticks in my hair the
next morning. Hadn't had those since childhood in the South either.
Thanks.


Mulberries have both male and female flowers on the same tree and they are
self fertile. If your trees have distinct male flowers on the one and
female flowers on the other they are not mulberries. Apparently there are
ornamental mulberries (I haven't seen one) and these might be non-fruiting.
In any case mulberries typically fruit quite young so if they haven't done
it by now they aren't going to.

If you really like the fruit plant a black mulberry and you will have fruit
in 2 or 3 years.

David

Thank you everyone. I have to plead ignorance to this point. I had no
idea there might be a fruitles mulberry with all those flowers. Thirty
years ago the builder gave us a list from which to select landscape
plants. I suppose it was about the time and place to use them for
shade. And they do that well. Guess I won't be planting any fruiting
ones tho, they'd surely grow over neighboring properties. There are no
complaints about my magnolias hanging over, but it'd probably be
different with dropping fruit. Bet I will be looking for them on our
trip to Penn. each year. Thanks all again.