Clipping Clones

Wednesday, February 25th, 2009

We have been blessed by the incredible knowledge and generosity of our partners at the Morton Arboretum and today they sent Peter and David, two most pleasant gentlemen, to take clippings from our majestic Black Sugar Maple. We all recognize that the tree has led a full, productive life and its critical contribution to the architecture can not be overstated, but it will not live forever and so we are seeking ways to enjoy it long into the future. To that end, in the fall we collected seeds and brought them to Dr. Donnelley at the Morton Arboretum. He had staff put them in the chiller and soon they will be propagated in the green house.

 

The health of the tree causes some concern and we fear the success rate for the seed propagation will be limited, but we will wait and remain hopeful. Our next step was to invite Kris Bachtell to examine the tree’s health. He provided some valued advice and made the arrangements for today’s cloning activity. 

 

 

The clippings that we took today will be spliced on to two year old Black Sugar Maple stock already in the green house at the arboretum. If we are successful, we will be growing genetic duplicates of our beloved tree, at least above the root system. Finally, this spring, we will fertilize and pamper the tree in the hopes that we can nurture it through another few years.

 

The skill and passion of the staff at the Morton Arboretum is unequaled and I am so grateful that they are sharing their expertise with us. I brought Peter and David into the house when we were done with the work, to warm up on the toasty travertine floor and to share the architecture with them with a similar passion.  No other architecture is more tied to and respectful of the landscape and both men seemed delighted by the experience.

 

Whitney French

Farnsworth House Site Director

www.FarnsworthHouse.org

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