Drive through southwest Georgia and you’ll see lots of signs
advertising mayhaw jelly.

To the novice, mayhaw jelly just tastes like glorified apple
jelly. But to the expert (and nearly
all natives or long-term residences of the mayhaw belt are), a
mere insinuation that the flavor
is like apple jelly is taken as a personal affront.

The difference is a matter of appreciating the many subtle and
complex flavors of mayhaw
jelly.

Mayhaws wholesale for $4 to $5 per gallon and retail for $8 to
$12 per gallon. And there are
only four pounds per gallon. Southwest Georgia has a half-dozen
commercial makers and
many thousands of home makers of mayhaw jelly.

The trees also have excellent potential as an ornamental. And
they supply food for birds. Many
song birds and game birds, including turkey, quail and wood
ducks, eat the fruits.

Like pine trees and blueberries, mayhaws can be legally planted
on cleared wet areas. Many
fields in south Georgia contain depressions too wet for row
crops, which makes them ideal
mayhaw sites.

The main problem with mayhaws has been erratic fruit production
because most of the native
trees bloom so early.

In 1985, I started testing named mayhaw cultivars. It has been
very hard to find cultivars with
all the desired attributes, but we have several now that are
enormously better than most native
trees.

Since certain selections of mayhaws bloom much later than
others, if you live in middle or
north Georgia, be sure to plant these later blooming types.
Later-blooming trees are also of
great advantage in south Georgia in years like 1993 and 1996,
when we had late freezes.

Here are several of the most promising cultivars, in approximate
order of ripening.

‘Superspur’ blooms early, so it’s best adapted to south Georgia.
But it’s very productive. The
fruit shatter when they ripen and are soft.

‘T.O. Warren’ (also known as ‘T.O. Superberry’) blooms early,
too, so it’s best adapted to
south Georgia, but is productive. The trees have an excellent
peach-tree shape. The fruits are
bright red and firm, and they hold on the tree well.

‘Saline’ blooms late and is productive. The fruit is bright red
and firm, with excellent retention
on the tree.

‘Turnage 57’ blooms late and is very productive. The trees are
medium in vigor with
semiweeping branches. The flowers are pollen-sterile, so the
tree must be planted with other
late-blooming cultivars for best fruit set. This cultivar is
very precocious and will flower and
fruit one year after grafting. The fruits are medium size with
bright red skin and orange flesh.

‘Turnage 88’ blooms late and is very productive. The tree is
high in vigor and took about eight
years to come into heavy production. However, last year it
produced more than 10 gallons of
fruit. The fruits are medium in size with bright red skin and
orange flesh.

Where can you get these trees?

Visit or call your county extension
office for a list of mayhaw nurseries. I’ve sent them
current listing of nurseries by electronic mail, and they can
make you a photocopy.

You can also pick up a copy of the publication, “Minor Fruits
and Nuts in Georgia.” It has
several pages on mayhaws.

Mayhaws grow well in wet areas and will even survive in flooded
areas, much like cypresses.
They also thrive on upland sites with irrigation.

If you’re interested in commercial mayhaw production, contact
your county extension office,
and I’ll send them more information for you.