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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Like YIKES….!! OK I have to admit that bees are not one of my most favorite things in this world… Yes they do a lot of good but still, YIKES…. LOL Sheesh look at those eyes… Double YIKES…….
LOL Spider! They do look kind of menacing, don’t they? lol
Sherry..how are you?
never heard of English Ivy blooming..When we moved to our house..the house was alomost covered by English Ivy’s on four sides ..except the walk way..it looked beautiful in winter as it’s evergreen..aslo around all the trees..there were no other plants here except the Ivy’s and conifers and a few tress..Later we removed all the Ivys ..as I spotted my son watching a snake thry my window.. the ivys were removed by nest weeked..it was tough job.for us and neighbors..we still have some here and there…but never seen a bloom…
and that’ a lot of bees…it must be a rare sweet treat for them
Hi Raji,
I’m doing good and hope you are as well.
That’s the bad thing about ivy, it is -so- rampant! I don’t blame you for removing it after you saw your son watching a snake! (I can definitely see how a snake could hide in it, it’s so thick and lush.)
I try to keep mine contained to these arbors, but I still have to prune it many times throughout the year.
Thanks for stopping by.
Just the mention of ivy blooming made me think, “I’m sure I’ve never see an ivy bloom.” But the pictures made me more than know. What unusual blooms. They are so different from the vine.
Hi Louise, yes it is very strange to see this ivy vine blooming, and the flowers are so unusual. I would probably cut them back as soon as they start if not for the way the bees seem to love them.
wonderful photos of your ivy and honey bees. I love honey!
Thank you, Tammie. These bees are very well-fed, they have been on this ivy for days now! :)
I too have never heard of Ivy blooming. I know a song where the Ivy twines… amazing that the bees love the blossoms; in all the years I’ve had English Ivy it has never done this.
Hi Christine,
From what I have read, it takes many years for it to bloom. The ivy that grows here in the shade has never bloomed in all the years I have lived here, my ivy on the arbor was propagated from the same ivy in the woods and it blooms every year. I think the plants have to be old -and- be in full sun to produce these blooms.
I can confirm a Western version of bees and ivy. When I moved to my house in the Hollywood Hills eight years ago, the back hillside was covered in ivy (Algerian, ubiquitous here in LA), and above the ivy, similar-looking tree/shrubs up to ten feet high. After some checking around, I learned that older ivy can become shrublike, with the primary difference being more oval rather than heart-shaped leaves. And, frequent blooming! The ivy tree/shrubs are at this moment covered in honeybees. This occurs several times a year. The ivy vines, alas, have succumbed to gophers.
Mark
Hi Mark,
I too have noticed that the older ivy has different-shaped leaves— the individual leaves get larger and larger the older it is. Interesting that yours blooms several times a year! Mine has only ever bloomed once a year, always in late summer and fall.
Thanks for your comments.
-Sherry