Ivies

Ivy has a long history as a garden plant.

The most accommodating of the climbers, and a valuable feature in any garden, ivy reached the heights of popularity in Victorian Britain. Handsome, evergreen, attractive all the year round, able to grow and prosper where nothing else will, a perfect clothing for empty walls and dull fences with a wonderful variety of leaf sizes, shapes and colours.

The sturdy Victorian virtues of the ivy are at last becoming apparent to the modern gardener.

This is the first comprehensive book on ivies to be published in Britain since 1872. The author describes in full 125 different varieties of ivy, tracing their histories in detail, putting to rights much earlier confusion about identities and nomenclature. His years of research are combined with an easy style and a practical horticultural skill, with advice on growing ivies in every situation, from the biggest landscape schemes to rock gardens, hanging baskets, topiary, house plants and terraria.

An index of leaf shapes, reference lists of green-leaved and variegated ivies, a glossary of botanical and horticultural terms, and 71 colour plates complete the book.