Round the mulberry bush

Is there another fruit tree as magnificent as the mulberry? Its thick green canopy provides deep shade in summer, its sturdy branches are made for kids to climb and its sweet dark berries keep cropping from late spring through to summer so you don’t end up with a wasteful glut of fruit.

This shapely deciduous tree was a favourite of Vincent van Gogh and one of his proudest technical achievements late in life was a painting of a mulberry tree in autumn, its leaves a startling yellow against a blue sky.

Collectively grouped under the family name Moraceae, mulberries are related, are found in the Americas.