Spidra's Mulberry 'Persian'
Morus nigra

Mulberry is another fruit that does wonderfully well here. While Morus alba ‘Pakistan’ is tempting because of the large size of its fruit, I prefer Morus nigra ‘Persian’ for its taste. It’s ambrosial. The perfect balance of sweet and tart as far as I’m concerned (I tend to like things on the tart side). Mine is growing in a container as I wasn’t sure I had the room for a standard size tree. It’s grafted extraordinarily high on the rootstock and the tree has a weird growth habit like an umbrella that’s been blown inside-out by the wind. But not all Morus nigras grow that way. Why we don’t see more of this tree in Berkeley, I don’t know. I suppose it’s because the garden books have dire warnings about the stains the berries leave on the sidewalk but that’s a small price to pay for such wonderful fruit.