Depending on your perspective Hedora Helix is either an annoying weed that clogs up the garden or an attractive plant that adds character to cottages, bridges or ruins. Ivy is one of the four British climbing plants that can grow to an appreciable size and it attaches itself to the host by means of fine rootlets growing off the stem. The flowers are green and globular and secrete much nectar in the autumn that attracts wasps and flies to perform the pollinating, while the seed are black and resemble berries.
There is also a plant called Ground Ivy that is common in Britain’s wastelands, woods and fields, but this is classified as a mint and only reaches to around 30 centimetres in length. Clusters of mauve flowers appear in the spring and the leaves give off a faint minty scent when bruised.
