Flowering Ivy

I never knew before that this was how ivy flowered. I had more time to investigate this afternoon as Basil and I walked to Colin's to give him two photos of Nelson.

The flower clusters develop as 'umbels' with stalks radiating out in a globular formation. The individual umbels unfold when ready into five sepals from which protrude stamens. Bees and hoverflies forage for the nectar. Get close to the flowers and you can smell a scent which is not altogether unpleasant.

The Woodland Trust confirms that ivy is a valuable food source, and shelter, in Autumn for a wide variety of insects and birds.

The Woodland Trust also says that ivy does NOT strangle trees. It can also be used for emergency winter fodder.

Spent a very jolly couple of hours in Colin's company coming home with a book of old photos of Loughborough and surrounding villages. We celebrated Saturday evening with a pre-prandial G&T.

By the time I got home, Len had cooked the dinner (Yay!) and was pouring the prosecco.