Hi bucky130, I can see a few fruits on it. Unfortunately the top 18-20" of it is dead and did not leaf out and will have to be cut off. So even an unhealthy 1/4" branchless whip of an Illinois Everbearing will fruit but 14-15' trees in other varieties do not? Looks like I purchased the right variety. Sure wish I had purchased a nice size tree from a different nursery. With our long seasons I'm told a Mulberry can grow 10' in one year. I was hoping for a tree that would do just that to shade my garden from the afternoon sun. Instead I will have a fruiting bush or at best a tree that will be 10' shorter at the end of the season than I had hoped. If the BR tree does not readily adopt a tree form and get at least 4-6' tall I will be purchasing another IE this Fall from a nursery other than Burnt Ridge. A 1/4" caliper whip is not a normal size variation for a tree described as large. None of the trees they sent me are thriving. I have 1-2" new growth on the Methley Plum they sent me. Of the four trees they sent me thats the tree thats doing the best. Trees I purchased from other nurseries already have 2-3' of new growth. Even trees I planted after my Burnt Ridge order have much more growth than the best tree purchased from BR. I don't think I will ever order from them again.

YMMV - performance of mulberries in different sites can be quite varied. Illinois Everbearing is the 'gold standard' in zone 6 (M.nigra is frequently held up as the 'true' gold standard, but we really can't grow it here.) - precocious, and a heavy bearer of really tasty mid-sized berries with good sweet/tart balance over a 6-8 week period extending from early-mid June through late July. 'Stearns' is similar, and gets my nod for 2nd place. Collier is good, but the berries were always very tart here. Wellington has a really crappy growth habit and low productivity. Oscar's was a non-starter for me. I liked Kokuso's fruit when I had an opportunity to sample it, but the Easter freeze of 2007 killed it, as well as Collier, and severely damaged Oscar's. I have a couple of M.rubra selections that I really like - larger, juicier fruits than IE, and a bit sweeter, but their productive period is only a couple of weeks. I've never tasted a white-fruited mulberry that would have been worth the space it would have taken up in my orchard. Thomis - M.alba is NOT a native tree, unless you live in Asia. Around here, they're typically a weedy, unkempt thing, popping up in every untended urban/suburban fencerow or ditchbank. Fruit quality is usually pretty poor, though the birds do seem to like them.

I am in Colorado, about 50 miles north of Denver. My mulberry trees were here when I moved in 12 years ago. They were large then, 25 ft at least, Four trees covered a large area of our yard. We have removed all but One now, and are considering taking that one out as well. My concern is that, as stated above, the birds and squirrels love them. To anyone wanting to know why grow a mulberry, that is the answer. They totally ignore the cherry tree right next to them. I would love to keep them in some form, but don't have room for the large tree. I have potted up a few of the seedlings and am going to try them as bushes. Wish me luck.

I just bought a couple of everbearing mulberries in Atlanta Ga and was told it would fruit from April into fall I don't have enough experience yet to know for sure, but it will probably depend where you live, what state are you in or zone? and what type mulberry do you have and someone might be able to answer.