AP had a story this week about a Forest Service program to plant Dutch Elm Disease-resistant elm trees in forests, as a first step toward returning the iconic American tree to our landscape (here it is). Speaking as somebody who has written about such efforts for a couple of decades, the interesting part to me [...]

The official age of “Herbie” - the American elm in Maine that was officially the tallest of its species in New England until it finally succumbed to Dutch Elm Disease - is 217, reports the Press-Herald. From the story:
The 110-foot tree survived 14 bouts of Dutch elm disease thanks to its caretaker, Frank Knight, who’s [...]

The Portland Press-Herald has the story about the upcoming demise of New England’s largest elm tree, written as a profile of the man who has helped keep “Herbie” the tree alive for a half century. The tree is 110 feet tall, with a trunk that’s 20 feet around - not bad! It has finally succumbed to Dutch elm disease despite spraying and pruning, and will be taken down before it falls on something.

Many years ago my wife and I planted several disease-resistant hybrid elms from the Elm Research Institute in Keene. Most are chugging along, but one of the big trees succumbed to Dutch elm after about 15 years - I wrote about it, including a video complete with some chainsaw action, last year.