I call it a Mulberry "bush" because of the nursery rhyme "Here we go round the Mulberry Bush.......", but it's actually a tree and quite a nicely shaped specimen tree in the garden. I've never seen it so covered in large and plentiful berries as it is this year. The ground beneath the tree is a carpet of fallen ripe mulberries and wild birds are having a feast - in fact they can't keep up with the supply! I wonder if the warm damp winter and spring is the reason for such a bumper crop and I wonder if others have noticed this with their mulberry bushes? Maybe it's going to be a good season for all berry fruit? I hope so! I've attached a couple of pics.
Regards,
Dawn.

That looks gorgeous Dawn. I think pretty much everything is in great abundance this year due to the weather during the past seasons. The native bush next to my place has never had so many ivy seedlings coming up (not a good thing!). My washing, for the first time in 15 years, is being covered with the little threads that fall off our pin oak and the threads are lying in great clumps all over the place. My peonies and roses have never looked so good for so long (my roses usually only look good for one week).

Dawn I am very envious, I had a mulberry tree when I lived-in Sydney but had never seen them here.
I really like the flavour of mulberries and have at times thought about planting one in our Auckland garden.

J1 and Helen, it's a pity not to use them, but to me they don't have enough depth of flavour, although they are sweet. My grandchildren have discovered them and eat a swag though. I find they are sweeter tasting if they are collected from the ground after they fall, rather than picking them off the tree - can't reach a lot of them anyway but the birds knock the ripe ones down. The tree was given to us many years ago by my husband's Grandmother who's nephew had a mainly natives nursery at One Tree Point, Ruakaka and they used to grow them from cuttings. The berries stain like you've never seen before and the Grand-kids get very red tongues and I have to tell them not to wipe their stained hands on their clothes!

J1, it's nice to have a season out of the box when you can enjoy your flower garden for an extended length of time. It's already 23oC and we've had very drying winds and the soil is fast drying out.
Regards,
Dawn.