This is the native mulberry – morus rubra – the Red Mulberry, part of my ongoing struggle to replace the crap grass (not a typo, nor a Freudian slip) with native, or at least naturalized plantings. An attempt to attractively expand my backyard wildlife habitat. Except that this is the front yard, so I really have to be delicate about it. Last year, I scattered native wildflower seeds on the deliberately scalped lawn – hoping for a meadow, you understand – and got virtually nothing but Spanish Needles. And tall grass. With the occasional rudbeckia and salvia popping up for good measure. The place didn’t look so much like a meadow, as it did an abandoned, overgrown mess. You know, the kind where you wonder if the homeowner’s lawnmower was broken? Or that maybe they’re dealing crack in there? The City posted a warning on our door.

But I digress…

This has been a banner year for the mulberries, so far, and they’ve only been in the ground about two years! I’ve never seen so many berries on these guys. Every time I even think about pruning them, they go into bloom and start bearing. Heck – they were blooming and bearing while they were still in the nursery pots, waiting to go into the ground!

I think I’ve told you this story: Back in March, when we had that hockey game of a yard sale, the true star of the weekend (besides MIL’s jewelry), was this mulberry. It was going into bloom then, and people gazed at it in amazement. “What is that?” “It’s a mulberry.” “Can you eat the fruit?” “Yup. Us and the birds.” One guy asked me if he could get a cutting! So, I sent MJ to get my pruners and charged him a buck.

But I’m confused – I haven’t seen a single bird go near them. Yet another stunning example of my planting for wildlife, but the wildlife don’t care… That’s okay. At least I get to enjoy them:-)

Michelle at Rambling Woods is hosting Nature Notes, a weekly meme dedicated to challenging us to take a moment out of our hectic lives and notice the seasonal changes – large and small – taking place in nature all around each of us, in our own little corners of the world. Please visit Michelle and all the other participants, and maybe take some of your own Nature Notes!