Beautiful Madness

I borrowed the title from our good friend Jim Dodson’s book for this post about Ulmus parviflora ‘Golden Rey’. One of the most admired trees in our garden is our specimen of Gold-leaf lacebark elm. The bark, as you can see below is absolutely fabulous both in winter and summer.

Ulmus parviflora ‘Golden Rey’

The problem is that lacebark elm is a notorious seed producer, and in our garden, it seems like every one germinates. Our love/hate relationship with this species has so far resulted in the removal of four different mature cultivars from our garden so far.

Here’s where genetic engineering (GE) could actually help. Notice, we are using the term GE, as compared to the incorrectly used GMO. All, plants, unless they come directly from the wild, are genetically modified organisms (GMO). Humans would cease to exist as we know them without GMO’s, so, please try to use the correct terminology. What people are crusading against in food crops is actually genetic engineering (GE). Hoping down now from my soapbox.

It’s actually quite easy to sterilize a plant, using one of the genetic engineering tools known as CRISPR. Just think of this GE surgery as a horticultural vascectomy…a couple of snips and you’re done making babies. It will be interesting to see if public sentiment for non-edible crops allows genetic engineers to solve such problems with making some amazing plants like the widely planted lacebark elm more palatable to gardeners who are concerned about its potentially invasive tendencies.

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