For The Love Of Ivy

The hen blackbird is quite shy. I've been trying to capture her feasting on the ivy berries for a while. Mishka and I spent the whole of September capturing creatures visiting the ivy flowers. What a wonderful resource the berries are for birds. The pigeons are loving them too.

Mishka climbed up into the raised bed for the first time today. My Jazzy dog used to love to rest here in the ivy. This is Hedera helix 'Melanie' which is a selected form of Hedera 'Cristata' which occurred at Beth Chatto's nursery in Essex. The round crumpled leaves are bordered with plum-red. I have found this not to be as hardy as other ivies. It gets nipped by severe frost.

Don't get the Mamas & Papas song For The Love Of Ivy.