A trunk that thickens before your eyes, bark that ages in a few seasons — White Mulberry is one of the most honest shortcuts to a bonsai with an ancient look.
What makes it unique. Morus alba is one of the fastest-growing species among collection bonsai. After a few seasons of free growth, it develops a thick trunk with deep fluting and grey-brown fissured bark that gives it the appearance of a tree far older than its actual age. Its large lobed leaves — which vary even on a single shoot, from simple to deeply cut — reduce significantly over years of careful work and regular repotting.
Origin. Native to China, Morus alba has been cultivated for more than four thousand years for its leaves, the exclusive food source of silkworms (Bombyx mori) — it is the founding tree of the global silk industry. Naturalised in Europe, Central Asia, and the Mediterranean basin for centuries, it is today present in hedgerows, parks, and abandoned land throughout France. This familiar presence makes it easy to source raw material — yamadori or large-diameter cuttings — at minimal cost.
A forgiving bonsai. Morus alba forgives watering errors, accepts severe pruning, withstands hard winters, and back-buds on old wood with consistent energy. It is an ideal bonsai for beginners who want to learn to work a vigorous broadleaf without encountering the fragility of more demanding species. Its only real drawback in bonsai: initially large leaves that take years of patient work to bring to satisfying proportions.
A trunk that thickens before your eyes, bark that ages in a few seasons — White Mulberry is one of the most honest shortcuts to a bonsai with an ancient look.
What makes it unique. Morus alba is one of the fastest-growing species among collection bonsai. After a few seasons of free growth, it develops a thick trunk with deep fluting and grey-brown fissured bark that gives it the appearance of a tree far older than its actual age. Its large lobed leaves — which vary even on a single shoot, from simple to deeply cut — reduce significantly over years of careful work and regular repotting.
Origin. Native to China, Morus alba has been cultivated for more than four thousand years for its leaves, the exclusive food source of silkworms (Bombyx mori) — it is the founding tree of the global silk industry. Naturalised in Europe, Central Asia, and the Mediterranean basin for centuries, it is today present in hedgerows, parks, and abandoned land throughout France. This familiar presence makes it easy to source raw material — yamadori or large-diameter cuttings — at minimal cost.
A forgiving bonsai. Morus alba forgives watering errors, accepts severe pruning, withstands hard winters, and back-buds on old wood with consistent energy. It is an ideal bonsai for beginners who want to learn to work a vigorous broadleaf without encountering the fragility of more demanding species. Its only real drawback in bonsai: initially large leaves that take years of patient work to bring to satisfying proportions.