Re: mulberry trees & thrushes
Marcia Watson-Whitmyre (mww@UDel.Edu)
Thu, 28 May 1998 13:58:24 -0400
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Robert Weiner wrote:
> any thrush or mulberry lovers (the thrushes have good taste --- I tasted
> some berries -- delicious!) have any suggestions? do other migrating
> passerines like mulberries? can I just pick a few berries and throw them
> in some water to germinate? how long does it take to grow a
> thrush-attracting-sized mulberry bush from seed?
>
> thanks for your advice.
>
> Robert Weiner (rweiner@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu)
> George Washington University
> Washington DC 20052
> 202 994 5981
Just this morning I was watching an assembly of birds feasting on the wild
mulberries in my hedgerow. They will attract orioles, vireos, warblers,
catbirds & brown thrashers, tanagers, cardinals, goldfinches, indigo
buntings, blue grosbeaks, song & field sparrows - just about anything. Chats
in particular seem to LOVE mulberries. But, mulberries seem to take a LONG
time to bear fruit from seed - it's not worth trying. In fact, we just
ripped out some small trees that we planted as tiny seedlings - they had been
lingering at pre-bearing size for almost 10 years and we have decided to
devote the space to something else. There are some mail-order nurseries that
sell mulberries. I would recommend buying a good-sized tree since they take
so long to become established. The best course for mail-order would be to
buy bare-root trees, which means dormant stock that is only shipped in spring
and fall. Planting at either time will work in our area, but it is too late
for this spring. If I remember correctly, you need two or more mulberries for
pollination, if there are no wild ones in the area.
A nursery that specializes in native plants won't laugh at you and call
mulberries "weeds!" Let me take a look through my catalogs at home and I'll
come back with some potential sources in a few days.
PS: One of my funniest wildlife sightings involved a mulberry. A couple of
years ago, I was walking along the hedgerow at home, when I saw something
large and brown in the mulberry tree overhanging the trail, just about 10
feet off the ground. My first thought was hawk or owl. I stopped and looked
carefully, then noticed that it had fur, not feathers. Gradually I was able
to discern the shape through the leaves. It was a full-grown groundhog with
his long claws wrapped around the branch, and so busy stuffing himself with
mulberries that he didn't even notice me. I carefully walked under the tree
- I didn't want him to panic and fall on my head! When I got to a place
where there was a clear view, he finally noticed me and, on the ostrich
principle, v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y moved his head to try to hide it behind a
leaf. We had a Mexican standoof for a while, neither one of us moving.
Finally I took pity on him and went away. I am not one for
anthropomorphizing animals, but that groundhog did look embarrassed. It was
a learning experience for me because I never knew they could climb trees.
Marcia Watson-Whitmyre
Cecil County
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