Damn Arbor: Fruit Forecast: mulberries, juneberries, and cherries, oh my

Tuesday, June 14, 2022

Fruit Forecast: mulberries, juneberries, and cherries, oh my

It's mid June and fruit trees are beginning to ripen. This forecast focuses primarily on urban Washtenaw County. If you live in the northwest of the county, things spring might be a week or two behind. If you live closer to Detroit, fruits might be ripening a bit faster. Keep an eye out for hungry birds, they can strip a tree of ripe berries quickly. On to the forecast.

Mulberries

Mulberries, with some berries approaching peak ripeness

The most frequent mulberry you are going to find is Morus alba, the Eurasian white mulberry. The fruit, when ripe, ranges from deep purple to white. These berries (actually a multiple of drupes) are just a few days away from peak. With the heat and rain this week. I'd expect them to be perfect by the weekend.

Juneberries

A few of these Juneberries are becoming edible

Whether you call them juneberries, saskatoon berries, servicesberries, or shadberries, there's one question on everyone's mind: when will these petit purple pomes peak? In my neighborhood at least, there were a few berries just becoming palatable this morning. I'd expect most juneberries to peak early next week. Keep your eyes on your favorite juneberry bushes.

Sweet Cherries

Ripening sweet cherries on my neighbor's tree.

The sweet cherries in my neighborhood are just beginning to become palatable, but none are really ripe yet. I'd expect things to really pop off towards the end of next week.

Tart cherries

Tart cherries are about a week or so behind the sweet cherries

I've got a pretty low sample size here (n = 2) but the tart cherry trees in my neighborhood are not quite as far along as the sweet cherries. I'd say these are likely to peak towards the end of June.