If I could only have one fruit tree? It would definitely be a Mulberry.
What varieties are best for the Willamette Valley?
Cliff notes:
Mulberries are easy to grow and delicious.
-Illinois Everbearing is the tried and true variety for gardeners in western Oregon/Washington.
-Pakistani is another one people have had good luck with.
-A handful of other gardeners have grown Oscar and Wellington with success.
-Consider a dwarfing varietiy to fit small spaces.
-There’s a possibility that a Morus Nigra species - Noir of Spain - will do well here, but have not confirmed.
One of the very first trees I planted when I first moved to my property 15 years ago was the Illinois Everbearing Mulberry. This is one planting I definitely did not regret.
Mulberry virtues:
-No/low water depending on your site (once established).
-Does not require extreme heat or all day sun to ripen (this is true for my Illinois, not sure on other varieties).
-Delicious. Think the best fresh blackberry you’ve had - but better.
-Illinois Everbearing starts producing at a young age.
-Illinois Everbearing produces heavily all summer.
-No disease issues.
-Very little pest issues: occasionally the birds will eat the berries, but there is plenty to share.
-The tree requires no pruning.
-If you don’t eat all the fruit, they freeze wonderfully. I like my fruit partially frozen when I eat it, but even if you let them thaw, they don’t turn to mush.
-You can also make a jelly out of the fruits.
-Mulberries fruit very late in the season, so a surprise spring frost is unlikely to damage that season’s fruit.
-Check out the copious quantities of mulberries developing in my 2023 garden!
Mulberries get a bad rap.
-The biggest factor is that there are some types of mulberries that grow as invasive weeds on the east coast. I’ve never heard of invasive potential here (please tell me if you hear otherwise).
-Wild varieties have inferior flavor - there is a misconception that mulberries do not taste good.
-The other issue is that of staining - they can stain sidewalks and cars if the fruit happens to fall on them. White varieties do not have this issue.
The tried and true variety for our region is Illinois Everbearing.
Nearly every gardener I’ve spoken with in our region who grows mulberries has Illinois Everbearing, and they love it. The tree is widely available in local nurseries or from mail order sources. My understanding is that this variety must be grafted on a dwarfing rootstock if you don’t want it to grow into an out-of-reach monster.
What about other varieties?
If Illinois Everbearing is so good, why even consider other varieties? From what Lee Reich and other gardeners have to say, Illinois is only partly as good as some of the others. Since Illinois is delicious on its own, I’ve got to try them.
In addition, it is noted that Illinois Everbearing doesn’t dehydrate very well. Reportedly the white cultivars do. I’ve tasted dried mulberries before and would love to grow them at home if possible as part of my shelf-stable food stores.
There are also dwarfing varieties - in particular Gerardi and Dwarf Everbearing - which grow to only 6 feet or so and would fit small spaces.
What other varieties are recommended?
If there’s one thing I’ve learned about growing food, each region is very temperamental in what plants do well. Therefore, it is important to gather advice from other gardeners in your region to verify that a plant will do well before you waste money and space and years hoping it will do well.
The trouble is, of all the gardeners I’ve spoken to on this topic, there is serious conflicting information on what will do well beyond Illinois and often Pakistani.
Mulberry grower anecdotes: I’ve polled about a dozen regional Facebook gardening groups on what mulberries have grown well for them. Since I’ve gotten so much positive feedback on Illinois Everbearing, my focus shifted to finding gardeners who have experienced success in growing other varieties. But I jotted down whatever information gardeners wanted to share with me. The initials are how I keep track of my conversations - sometimes I’m able to get answers to follow up questions.
Here are the notes I wrote down:
My experience: Illinois Everbearing is my tried and true. I also have Pakistani, with flavor similar to Illinois. So far it has not been as vigorous. I also have Noir of Spain, which is supposed to be the most delicious of them all. My tree was planted in 2023, is growing vigorously, and at least six feet tall. It survived a prolonged deep freeze. Hoping this year I get to taste the fruit!
PT says Illinois Everbearing produces all she will ever need, produces for months on end.
SB says he has a bunch of Morus Alba varieties, and none of them produce better flavor than Illinois Everbearing. Morus Nigra are better flavored than Illinois for sure (he’s tasted them outside of Oregon), but he has not been able to get any morus nigra varieties to survive here (and he’s a professional orchardist). Gerardi Dwarf produces good fruit but not as good as Illinois, but the tree really is a dwarf so good for small spaces. He’s tried growing Noir of Spain 3 times in various locations, and each time it dies after never flourishing. He lives a bit south of me, and experiences harder frosts.
MB has an enormous Illinois Everbearing. Also tried growing Oscar, a Morus Alba variety, but died. She also has a weeping mulberry but the fruits are insignificant.
SW has a dwarf weeping mulberry that produces small but sweet berries. Also has Issai, but the tree is not yet of bearing age.
RE grows several varieties, but Illinois is the best and provides all the berries they can use.
LO has Oscar and their whole family loves the berries.
RL has Weillington and she loves it.
AP has a Persian White, it is a few years old but too young to fruit.
MW has a Dwarf Everbearing, White Snowbank. He’s had these 4/5 years, and loves the fruits.
TT has a weeping mulberry, the berries are insignificant. Is trialing several more varieties.
NG has a weeping mulberry and the fruit is tiny. Would love to try other varieties.
KNH said she planted Illinois Everbearing which died, but she also has Pakistani, which has been fruiting well for 20ish years.
HR has Noir of Spain. It has been in the ground for 3 years and she has tasted the fruit. She says the fruit is excellent.
LB has had Pakistani for 8-10 years. It fruits for six weeks and she really likes it.
LK planted Illinois, but it died for her. She also has Pakistani but it is too young to fruit.
LO has Oscar and she loves it. She and her family cannot get enough of them.
TT has a weeping mulberry up in Victoria, but the fruits are too small. He’s also trialing King White/White Pakistani, which seems to have suffered cold damage. He has a friend in Portland with Persian White but it is too young to fruit.
YW has Illinois, Pakistan, and Beautiful Day.
DW has Illinois and Black Beauty planted four years ago. The trees are too young to bear.
MC has Pakistani and is her favorite fruit tree. It seems to get some frost damage some years. Birds get much of the fruit. She struggles with getting to the fruit because it is such a large tree.
DH has a tree roughly 25 years old, but doesn’t know variety. She says hers is sited in partial sun and is like eating berry candy off of a tree. Everybody in their family loves them.
What do the nurseries have to say on this topic? Note that I asked them specifically to highlight other varieties that have done well in Western Oregon & Washington, Willamette Valley area besides Illinois Everbearing, because everyone knows that one is fabulous.
Note that I take advice from nurseries with a grain of salt - there is a conflict of interest in that they have something to sell you. And the person who answers this question may or may not have actual experience.
One Green World: besides Illinois, they have Pakistan and Persian that thrive in their test gardens. When I asked how long the Persian - a Morus Nigra species - has been fruiting in the garden, they asked their horticulturalist and that person confirmed that the Persian is indeed not hardy in our region, and recommended Illinois Everbearing. See what mean about being skeptical?
Whitman Farms: is a major grower of mulberries in our area, including Noir of Spain, which they say is particularly suited to the west coast. Will update if I hear back.
Raintree Nursery: says that Morus Nigra, like Black Beauty, species are not hardy in western states. Pakistan is marginally hardy. They have had excellent luck with Shangri La and Sweet Lavender.
What do you think? Have you tried growing mulberries?
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I have Illinois everbearing, Pakistan, and Beautiful Day white mulberry! I planted my Pakistan last year and it survived the crazy hard frost this past winter and is now fruiting. I got it as an 8' tall large tree from One Green World. I believe it's hardier than we think.
I love the flavor of Beauty Day! It tastes like pawpaw and vanilla, nothing like Illinois or Pakistani. I planted it last year and it's also fruiting now! Mulberries are for people who want instant gratification :)