Hedera colchica 'FALL FAVOURITE' (Arborescens)

Persian ivy is a beautiful species with extremely large leaves that no other hardy ivy is able to offer. This is a shrubby ivy variety whose name was recently changed from Arborescens to Fall Favourite because Arborescens had already been used for another hedera helix (Irish ivy) variety.

Fall Favourite bears lustrous, glossy, evergreen foliage that emerges soft green and matures to deep green in summer. The leaves are narrowly ovate or broadly elongated with one pointed tip opposite the stalk. Flowers are borne in regular spherical umbels, come out in early autumn, and attract butterflies and other insects. They are followed by small, black berries. Fall Favourite forms a compact and very handsome small shrub that looks gorgeous filling bottom parts of large shrubs or plants on short stems. It can also be admired when grown on its own as a small specimen plant.

This ivy was gained from an adult plant of Persian ivy at the moment it stopped climbing and started flowering. Its growth rate is therefore reduced to minimum – it will only get denser, spreading to sides like a large-leaved groundcover. It prefers moist but well-drained, alkaline soil, but will grow in nearly any soil type, sun or shade. It is fully hardy to min. -25°C (USDA zone 5b-6).

Last update 22-02-2012