Oscar

Oscar is a Morus rubra by Morus alba hybrid introduced by the naturalist Oscar Clark, and it has built a reputation among fruit growers as one of the best-tasting hybrid mulberries rather than one of the biggest. Its distinguishing feature is that it is worth eating at two different stages: picked at the red stage it tastes markedly of raspberry, and left to blacken it develops a richer, deeper blackberry sweetness, so a single tree effectively yields two flavours across the harvest. It is early ripening, which extends the mulberry season at the front end and gets fruit off the tree before the worst of summer disease pressure. The tree is fast-growing, easy-care and hardy across USDA Zones 4 to 8, and it makes a good shade tree in its own right with glossy foliage. Raintree, One Green World, Rock Bridge Trees and Planting Justice all carry it.