Hedera helix Goldchild - Common Ivy

The Hedera helix 'Goldchild' is a variety of common ivy with a modest size, highly ornamental throughout the year due to its beautifully variegated yellow foliage. Its small trilobed leaves have a light gray-green background, marbled with darker tones, and are widely bordered with yellow, which turns cream at maturity. It brings a lot of charm to partially shaded areas, in the garden of course, but also on the terrace or balcony. Bright and elegant, it can be used as both a small climbing plant and a ground cover, wherever shade prevails over sun.

Ivies belong to the araliaceae family, they are cousins of Ginseng and fatsias. The Hedera helix 'Goldchild' is a cultivar derived from common ivy, which can be found everywhere in our forests, countryside, and gardens. The latter is native to the entire temperate Eurasian zone of the northern hemisphere.

'Goldchild' is a moderately fast-growing climbing or creeping plant that can cover an area of 1.50 m². Its small evergreen leaves, triangular and divided into 3 lobes, are 4cm (2in) long, and are carried by thick, grayish branches with star-shaped hairs. Each leaf is different, but they all blend shades of gray-green, lighter or darker, and are regularly bordered with a light yellow band, which fades over time. The stems cling on their own to supports with powerful climbing roots. In autumn, the nectar from its inconspicuous green flowering, in the form of globular inflorescences, is an excellent source of nectar for bees. It is followed by the formation of black-blue berries, toxic to humans but representing an excellent winter food source for birds.

The hardy Hedera helix 'Goldchild' thrives everywhere except in hot or arid exposures. Its beautiful variegated foliage requires partial shade. This plant is a good non-invasive ground cover, but don't overuse it as it may eventually damage old walls or facades, especially when its branches are pulled away from their support. With ivy, action must be taken immediately or abstained from. On the other hand, variegated common ivies are irreplaceable for creating the setting of a terrace or balcony, trained on a small wire structure or trailing as draperies along large containers, down to the ground. In the garden, they form excellent ground covers capable of discouraging adventive plants in partial shade or even in shade. Pair them with easy-going woodland perennials such as epimediums, wood anemones, dead-nettles, or perennial geraniums like macrorrhizum or phaeum, for example.