Great Fruit Trees for the Deep South, Part. III: The Mulberry

Reader Contribution by David Goodman
Published on April 3, 2013
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I remember the first time I saw a mulberry tree. Growing up in South Florida, we were used to oranges, grapefruit, mangos and avocadoes. But… a blackberry that grew on a tree? Wild!

I was 10 years old. My little brother Brian and I were visiting our friends Rachel and Miles, who were eight and seven. Rachel took us down a little alley behind her house to show us the tree. We picked fruit and purpled our fingers and lips… totally amazed by the delicious abundance.

Rachel is now my wife; and though we no longer live in South Florida, we did take a trip back a few years ago and asked Rachel’s mom if the tree was still at the end of the alley. Sadly, it had been removed – but a far-sighted neighbor had taken cuttings before its demise and planted them across the street in an empty lot. We took our children for a walk and found the trees in full fruit. All of us came home purple and happy, our baskets loaded with berries.

In my yard in North Central Florida, I’ve planted a half-dozen mulberry trees and will soon plant more.

The mulberry tree has been praised and demonized… overlooked… fed to silk worms… discovered by hungry travelers… and planted by the Founding Fathers. It grows across most of the United States and is a consistent producer of delicious berries. The range is actually astounding, when you consider that mulberries live and fruit in states with blizzards and ice… and in Miami… where people suntan in February.

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