I look for some of my wildlife gardening inspiration from gardens, and some from the countryside – and today was a countryside day. And even if I had been blindfolded, I could have spotted the ‘Wildlife Plant of the Day’ with my ears, it was humming so loudly!
It was of course Ivy, and the humming was a full-on choir of ever-so-eager Honeybees, wasps and hoverflies. Several clumps of Ivy flowers were also aflame with Red Admiral and Comma butterflies. It was the same last week in Cornwall, where I took this photo of a Painted Lady getting her fill of the nectar. It may not be a showy flower, but you get the impression that without it many autumn insects would be doomed.
Ivy has its other wildlife uses too: it is a wonderful evergreen hiding place for all sorts of insects, including being a known hibernation site for Brimstone butterflies; birds such as Wrens love it for spider-hunting and nest-sites; and its berries are eaten by birds such as Wood Pigeons.
In the wildlife garden, it will serve many of its wildlife functions climbing up into a tree or against a shady wall (if you can bear its rootlets clinging to your brickwork) but it is only in sunny positions that it will bloom profusely and come alive.
And when that happens, I think Ivy has to be in my Top 10 Wildlife Plants. But would it make it into your Top 10….?!