I just snapped this photo of the amazing Ulmus parvifolia ‘Golden Rey’ last week, looking absolutely fabulous. We wish it didn’t seed around so much, as we really love everything else about this 1989 introduction from Oklahoman, Bruce Rey.
Golden Rey
deciduous tree, gold foliage plants, lacebark elm, seed dispersal, seedling, trial gardens, Ulmus parviflora 'Golden Rey', woody ornamentals
I acquired a small wooded area of secondary growth trees consisting of aggressive seeders of Norway maple, ash, and red elm. The ash all succumbed to emerald ash borer. The red elm followed the ash into oblivion. I don’t know if the emerald ash borer jumped to the elms or Dutch elm disease took them. As elm seedlings pop up,I remove them. No point wasting space on trees which aren’t resistant to pests and diseases. I’m replanting with a wide variety of tree species in the hope of avoiding future large scale die off.
Could a plant breeder breed a sterile selection of this?
Absolutely…our hope exactly. The first way would be to double the chromosomes, followed by crossing it back to the original. The faster method would be to give it a vasectomy using CRISPR technology.
It’s a weed in Colorado !- well maybe not that cultivar, which admittedly is lovely.