Hedera helix Ivalace - Common Ivy

Hedera helix 'Ivalace' is a vigorous but small-growing variety of common ivy, not exceeding 1.5 metres (5 feet). With its beautifully undulating and frizzled foliage, this ivy is particularly elegant. The small evergreen leaves, cut into slender lobes, display a very vibrant, glossy green colour, highlighted by lighter veins. Ornamental all year round and perfectly hardy, it thrives in any soil and in all exposures. This particularly refined variety will work wonders in a pot on the terrace or climbing up a wall. It also forms a superb ground cover at the base of a tree.

Ivies belong to the Araliaceae family, they are cousins of Ginseng and fatsias. Hedera helix 'Ivalace' comes from our common ivy, which can be found everywhere in our forests, countryside, and gardens. The latter is native to the entire temperate zone of the northern hemisphere.

'Ivalace' is a moderately fast-growing climbing or creeping plant, which can cover an area of 1.5 metres (5 feet) in all directions. Its small evergreen leaves, triangular and slightly wavy, divided into 5 slender lobes, are long and wide, measuring 4 to 5cm (2in). They are carried by thick, greyish, and starry-haired branches. Each leaf has almost crisped edges, more or less undulating. Their colour is a very vibrant green, with clear veins that are almost yellow. The stems cling to supports on their own with powerful climbing roots. In autumn, the nectar of its inconspicuous green flowering, in the form of globular inflorescences, is an excellent source of food for bees. It is followed by the formation of black-blue berries, toxic to humans but presenting an excellent source of winter food for birds.

The perfectly hardy Hedera helix 'Ivalace' thrives absolutely anywhere, except in scorching or arid exposures. It is valuable for bringing a touch of lushness to the neglected areas of the garden, which are shunned by most other plants. It makes a good wall cover, but don't overdo it as it can damage old walls or facades if removed from its support. On the other hand, small-sized common ivies are irreplaceable for the decoration of a terrace or balcony, trained on a small wire structure or trailing in variegated draperies along large containers, down to the ground. In the garden, it forms an excellent ground cover that can eventually discourage weeds in partial shade or even in the shade. Combine it with easy-to-grow woodland perennials such as epimediums, wood anemones, lamiums, or perennial geraniums macrorrhizum or phaeum, for example.