General Culture:

Grow in average, medium moisture, well-drained soil in full sun to part shade. Best in full sun. Tolerates heat, drought and a somewhat wide range of soils, including alkaline ones.

Noteworthy Characteristics:

This white mulberry cultivar is a dwarf, deciduous tree which features weeping foliage. It is usually top-grafted to a standard white mulberry about 6' off the ground, thus producing a 6-8' tall tree with an equal or wider spread wherein all branches and foliage weep to the ground. Mulberries are dioecious (separate male and female trees). This particular cultivar is a male tree which produces no fruit. The female version of this weeping mulberry is Morus alba 'Pendula' which does produce fruit (the fruit being both a blessing and a curse... ornamentally attractive and edible, but messy). Inconspicuous greenish-white flowers appear in late spring. Glossy, usually lobed, dark green leaves (to 8" long). Fall color is a generally undistinguished yellow.

Problems:

No serious insect or disease problems. Susceptible to leaf spots, bacterial blight, powdery mildew, canker, mites and scale.

Uses:

Dwarf size and weeping foliage are the main reasons for growing this interesting and unusual white mulberry. At the Children's Garden at the Kemper Center, two top-grafted trees have been planted approximately 5' apart, and the weeping foliage has been trained to form a flat-topped, tent-like play house for children (the weeping foliage hangs to the ground to form the sides, but is intertwined at the top between the trees to form a canopy). A good small specimen tree.

© Missouri Botanical Garden, 2001-2010