Hedera helix ‘Green Heart’ – Ornemental Ivy

There are two ways to select new ivy: 

1 – on a given variety, one or more branches appear differently from the rest of the plant. This is known as mutation. This is a common phenomenon in ivy. It naturally produces new shapes or colors that are interesting to observe. By taking cuttings from this original branching, you create a new variety of ivy. 

2 – by observing populations of ivy in the wild. Some of these can be quite original, distinguishing themselves from hitherto known forms of ivy.

In the first case, the parentage is well known. We’ll say that the new variety is a mutation (or sport) of such and such a cultivar. In the second case, it is more difficult, if not impossible, to establish the parentage of a newly-discovered variety.

In all cases, it’s important to make sure that the new variety is of real interest, whether aesthetically or botanically, and of course to check that it hasn’t already been spotted by someone else and is therefore completely different from anything we’ve known before.