There is so much happening outside here that I can't just keep talking about the hike. Today I want to share one of the most interesting things about spring in our yard.
The mulberry trees are always one of the very last to get their leaves. While most of the other trees seem to have made it to summer, the mulberries are just barely getting started. So the above picture is two of our mulberry trees, side by side. Lots of things won't grow here happily in our sand, but I seem to be able to sprout mulberries like weeds.
But why are they so different? Well that is the mystery! Here is a closeup of the "fuzz" on the tree that you see on the left in the picture above. 
And here is a closeup of the tree on the right that is a little smaller, but looks more leaved out. And as you can see now, it really is. So what is the solution to the mystery? Maybe I should let you guess until tomorrow...
 | See Trite But True for some pretty autumn trees See The Blindness of Familiarity for a handsome tree |
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See Trite But True for some pretty autumn trees
See The Blindness of Familiarity for a handsome tree
My grandfather had a mulberry tree growing by the corner of his farmhouse. Since he hated it, he cut it down. To make sure it wouldn't grow back, he hacked the stump to bits and covered it with lime to kill it. Much to our delight it grew back as many little shoots that eventually grew into a large mulberry bush. Made the mulberries a lot easier to pick.
ReplyDeleteMy parents actually use to have a mulberry bush. I had no clue that is what they were until recently. They also had boysenberry and raspberry.
ReplyDeleteLove those mulberries and so do the birds. It's going to be a great year for them.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a very young child we had a mulberry tree in our backyard. I remember my mom taking me out there to pick mulberries. I used to love those things. Now I want mulberry trees wherever I live.
ReplyDeleteMulberries dont grow like THAT around here. You've got me. Unless it has something to do with reproduction.
ReplyDeleteI remember a mulberry tree in the garden at home, and sheltering under it during a sudden rain downpour.
ReplyDeleteWe also had one at a college where I worked. All the overseas students used to gather underneath to collect the fruit. Some fruit, of course, fell to the ground. When students walked on them and then into the library, the floor was stained. I am pleased to say that they decided to fence off the area under the tree during the fruiting season, rather than take any more drastic action.
I remember Mulberry bushes in the backyard of our house on Pottawattomi Drive in Elkhart and I believe it was you Joan, my then future sister-in-law, who introduced me to their sweetness. But our funniest encounter was building Jeremy a tree house in the only "fruitless" mulberry tree in our backyard in Texas and five years later shocked to find the tree (and the treehouse) covered in big, purple staining mulberries. But they sure were good!
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