My English ivy is blooming, and attracts droves of bees of all kinds, especially honeybees (there does not seem to be a shortage of honeybees here!). I have this ivy growing on an arbor in my front yard along with a pink rose, and also on an arch at the entrance to the yard.
Although this evergreen vine is very rampant and invasive in most areas, with a lot of pruning I have been able to keep it contained to these arbors for a very long time. I had never seen bloom on ivy vines before until about 5 years ago when the vine on my arbor was many years old. I thought at first that it might die after the strange blooms first appeared (thinking it might be at the end of its life cycle), but it has thrived and now blooms every year in late summer and fall. We also have ivy growing wild in the woods nearby and in the deep shade of these woods, it does not bloom. My arbor gets plenty of sunshine though and I have tons of these strange flowers there every year. The bees absolutely love them! I will cut this back before the seeds ripen, but for now, it looks kind of neat. Click on the photos to view larger versions.
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Honeybees cover ivy blooms
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Closeup of honeybee on ivy flower
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Ivy flowers, Honeybees, Clusters of ivy blooms
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