Description

Before 2020 Raleigh spent a considerable amount of time stopping on the side of the road in the months of February, March and April to taste fruits of wild growing Mulberries. Sometimes he would spot the trees and the fruiting season had already passed. Regardless, he collected many of these wild growing Mulberries over the course of a couple years. He grew them out, some succeeded some failed, some he gifted to friends or gave to random persons, some he planted in the forestgarden.

‘Apollo’ is one of those chance Mulberries. It happened to be one that was left over from that exploration project at the time the Apollo Beach Community Forest Garden was being planted out. Raleigh thought of planting it in an area that was meant to become a windbreak as well as a fedge were the passerby could enjoy fruits outside the garden fence line. Raleigh does not really remember where he collected Apollo, he also is not sure if he dug it up somewhere and if it was a seedling or if it was grown from a cutting. The beauty of it is that it was an unexpected gift.

‘Apollo’ turned out to be a pretty large tree with small to medium sized leaves. It grew extremely fast, most Mulberries do, but this was almost as if you could see it happening in front of you. It usually bears one very heavy crop in the spring. The fruits are thumb sized and heart shaped, mostly sweet and lack acidity. They sometimes have a sticky coat to them and are on the softer side.

‘Apollo’ is not only a vigorous grower but also nematode resistant. It is an excellent rootstock and the primary reason we grow it.

6 Cuttings 7″-10″