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Welcome Back

August 25th, 2014

Way back in the spring of 2008, Mr Chiots and I visited Longwood Gardens.  While there I spotted the most beautiful ivy growing on a rock wall.  This is the photo we snapped so I could identify it.
kenilworth ivy (1)
After being unsuccessful at identifying and finding this plant at my local garden centers, I found it in a garden we were visiting. I pinched off a tiny piece and was able to start it for my garden in Ohio.
kenilworth ivy 2
Another year or so passed and I spotted the plant at a botanical garden, lucky for me there was a label ‘Kenilworth Ivy’ (cymbalaria muralis). This is such a graceful little plant and the blooms are understated yet stunning. It will grow in the tiniest cracks of rock walls and looks lush all season long, no matter how little rain has fallen.  I also found that it wasn’t invasive as creeping plants can be at times.
kenilworth ivy
Earlier this spring I went to my local garden center and found this beauty once again. I’m happy to have it back in my garden.
kenilworth ivy 1
I do not yet have it growing on any rock walls as I’m trying to eradicate couch grass from all the existing walls. At the moment it’s planted in a spot in the potager and I’m hoping it will spread nicely. When I want to add it to my rock walls I should have a nice patch to divide.

Do you have a favorite plant that you searched high and low for after seeing it somewhere?

3 Comments to “Welcome Back”
  1. Nebraska Dave on August 25, 2014 at 8:20 pm

    Susy, Ivy has always fascinated me. Especially the climbing English Ivy kind. There are brick houses that are covered with it in a certain area of my town. I’ve often wondered just what it does to the brick and mortar under the Ivy. My new property forever known as “35th Street Corner” will have an arch in one back corner made from a cattle panel with a bench under it. The cattle panel will have some kind of flowering climber growing over it. It should make for a great addition to the property. I haven’t really researched the possibilities for the climber just yet as I have enough work at Terra Nova Gardens for a couple more years. I’ll have more time for garden work now that Bradley’s living with his Dad so maybe things will move faster than expected.

    Have a great Kenilworth Ivy (cymbalaria muralis) day.

    Reply to Nebraska Dave's comment

  2. Megan on August 26, 2014 at 4:57 pm

    This is one of my favorites for adding to perennial pots and I actually had a hell of a time identifying and finding it as well! I purchased a small pot a few years ago because I liked the foliage and threw it into a pot I had in a shady location and it grew beautifully, cascading over the edges of the pot and ground below. Of course it didn’t come with a tag so I didn’t know what it was called and then couldn’t find it the next couple of years. Then this spring I found it at the garden centre and snapped up a few of them and made sure to stash the tag away for later reference. And yeah, definitely my favorite trailing plant for pots! Unfortunately my climate is too cold for over wintering so I’m going to try and keep some alive indoors for next spring.

    Reply to Megan's comment

  3. Susanne on August 30, 2014 at 2:55 pm

    you couldn’t identify it and didn’t ask your blog readers?!

    well, i never.

    i’ve had this beauty in & around my balcony garden for years, i could even have sent you some seeds! :-)

    Reply to Susanne's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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