Silk Hope

Silk Hope is a chance Morus alba by Morus rubra hybrid found near the town of Silk Hope, North Carolina, a community named for a nineteenth-century attempt to establish an American silk industry that never materialised. It was selected and introduced by A. J. Bullard, the North Carolina plantsman responsible for a number of the better Southern fruit selections. Its practical importance is that it does what Illinois Everbearing does but survives the Southeast: NC State Extension and multiple nurseries note that it is markedly more resilient to fungal disease than Illinois Everbearing, and its native red mulberry parentage gives it real tolerance of Southern heat and humidity. Fruit is comparable in flavour to Illinois Everbearing and slightly larger, and it ripens over an unusually long two-month window in early summer. It is stocked by Raintree, One Green World, Peaceful Heritage and Rock Bridge Trees.