Back in the early 1970s we lived in the Midlands for a few years and I can still remember the rows of stately elms whose crowns took on a crimson hue at this time of year as the flower buds on their twigs burst. Those magnificent trees are long gone, thanks to the Dutch elm disease fungus and the bark beetle that spread it from tree to tree, but shrubby hedgerow elm is still common enough. These twigs were just coming into flower in Teesdale earlier this week. Nearby there are also a few largish elms, although I guess the bark beetle will sooner or later find them too.
There are still some mature elms in the UK that have either escaped the fungus or are perhaps immune. The Natural History Museum has been surveying their distribution. You can download a leaflet about their Elm Map Project here.
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We lost our elms but there are some hybrids around at the nurseries. I had not seen a bug like this before.
ReplyDeleteHi Abe, I've read several times about resistant hybrids being produced, but don't know of any that have been planted in the UK yet....
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