Hedera helix Dyinnii - English Ivy

The Hedera helix 'Dyinnii' is a slow-growing evergreen ornamental ivy with a weak development. Extremely decorative with its miniature foliage deeply cut into five lobes, it is perfectly suitable for pot or container cultivation. Non-invasive, it can also be planted as a border in open ground. Adapting to most soils and exposures, except for overly sunny ones, it is a valuable plant for shady areas. Easy to grow, requiring virtually no maintenance, it is very hardy.

Ivy is one of the few European members of the Araliaceae family, well established in subtropical areas and represented in our gardens by the Angelica tree (Aralia elata) or the Tetrapanax papyrifera 'Rex' with giant leaves. There are less than ten species of Hedera, the most common being the climbing ivy or Hedera helix. Cultivated for a long time, there are numerous cultivars in parks and gardens, with green or variegated leaves and varying sizes, most of them climbing or, more rarely, erect (Hedera helix 'Erecta').
'Dyinnii' is a natural mutation of the 'Needlepoint' variety, which has dark green bird's foot foliage and reaches a height of 4m. Unlike it, 'Dyinnii' has a much more limited development as at maturity, it will form a low cushion about 75cm in diameter and 20cm in height. This carpet has a very dense vegetation, through which unwanted weeds cannot pass. However, its growth is slow: only about 20cm per year from the 2nd year of planting. For this reason, it is more suitable for planting in pots or containers or as ground cover rather than at the base of support, where it can undoubtedly climb but will cover only a small surface area.
Its miniature foliage is beautiful. It produces small leaves 2 to 3cm wide, deeply cut into 3 to 5 narrow lobes of a beautiful tender green. When mature, the leaves grow a little larger, up to 4cm, and their colour becomes darker. In autumn, the plant produces insignificant greenish-yellow flowers, which are useful to pollinators at this time of year. It then produces small, almost black fruits.

The 'Dyinnii' Ivy is an effective and valuable ground cover for shady areas under a tree canopy where grasses struggle to thrive. Due to its slow growth must be planted relatively close together (5-6 per m²) to achieve a result without too much waiting. You can also grow it as a border in a shaded bed alongside Hellebores, which, in addition to their persistently ornamental foliage with its particular pattern, will reward you with beautiful flowers in autumn or winter, white, pink, yellow, purple... depending on the varieties. In non-calcareous soil, the Polygonatum 'Weihenstephan' will allow you to create an attractive scene by planting it in the background of the Hellebores. This Solomon's Seal, with its false resemblance to a giant Lily of the Valley, forms arching stems adorned with delicate pendulous white bells in spring and black berries in summer.
You can also plant it in a container to decorate a terrace, alone or in combination, for example, with the Skimmia japonica 'Magic Marlot', which has attractive variegated evergreen foliage and abundant fragrant and melliferous flowering.