Sunday, January 18, 2009

Ivy - a study

It has been sunny this afternoon, so I have been playing with the macro lens again. There aren't many flowers about, but plenty of buds and new shoots - the hellebores are just about ready to burst into a floral chorus ion the next week or two.

The best photos of the afternoon, however, have turned out to be of something which I haven't planted - wild ivy growing up a cherry near the end of the garden, and a visitor from next doo, which clothes some of the fencing. The sun brings out the beautiful colour of the stem.




A useful plant for wildlife, flowering late in the year when nectar is scarce, and providing berries. Natural England lists the animals which use ivy.

6 comments:

TYRA Hallsénius Lindhe said...

Your Ivy photos are great. I remember when I lived in Berkshire there were Ivy every where and I loved it. I have planted a lot of it now here in Vaxholm where I live now and I hope it will thrive. It has such a nice winter green foliage.

Tyra

Anonymous said...

The leaves are very attractive in the first picture especially.
I foolishly removed some ivy from my garden and have regretted it ever since, particularly when I found out how good it was for wildlife.

Nutty Gnome said...

Why does your ivy look so much nicer than mine?
Mine is all straggly and feeble!

Anna said...

I must admit to sometimes cursing the ivy in my garden, but it is good to think that so many creatures appreciate it. The stem is a most attractive colour.

Lavender and Vanilla Friends of the Gardens said...

I love Ivy. The trouble is here it grows very rapidly and can get quickly out of hand. The photos are simply beautiful.

this is my patch said...

What a great link, I have saved it in my favourites. I am very interested to know what lives in ivy, I have so much of it as ground cover in my garden. x