Ivy-leaved speedwell

How to recognise it

Habit

Annual herb with trailing to ascending, branched, hairy stems 10–40 cm long; the plant rarely grows taller than 10 cm.

Leaf

Long-stalked, 1–2 cm, round to kidney-shaped with 3–7 broad lobes, like a small ivy leaf; fairly thick, pale green and hairy. The lower leaves are opposite, the upper ones alternate.

Flower

Small, 4–9 mm, pale lilac, light blue or almost white, with four petal lobes, borne singly in the leaf axils on a stalk about as long as the leaf, from March to May. The calyx has four heart-shaped lobes fringed with hairs.

Fruit/Seed

A round, hairless capsule usually containing 2–4 large seeds, which bends downwards on a curved stalk after flowering. The seeds carry a fatty appendage for ants.

Roots

Fine and shallow: easy to pull up or hoe off.

Confused with

Common field-speedwell has oval, scalloped leaves without lobes and larger, bright blue flowers with a white lower lobe. Ground-ivy also has ivy-like leaves, but square stems, a minty smell and purple two-lipped flowers. Ivy itself is a woody climber with glossy, leathery leaves.

Flowering: March–May

Why grow it?

• Flowers as early as March and April, when there are still few flowers: a first bite for small bees and hoverflies.
• Covers the bare soil of borders and vegetable plots in winter and early spring, then disappears by itself before summer.
• The seeds carry a fatty appendage and are carried off and spread by ants.
• A harmless weed: it is gone before most vegetables and perennials really get growing.
• Part of the spring flora of hedgerows and woodland edges, together with lesser celandine and garlic mustard.

Ivy-leaved speedwell: where does it grow best?

• In the wild: arable fields, vegetable plots, borders, hedgerows, woodland edges, deciduous woods, parks and churchyards on fertile soil.
• Sun to half shade; under deciduous shrubs and trees it gets enough light in spring.
• Loose, moisture-retentive, fertile soil: loam, sand or clay.
• In the garden: under shrubs, in a perennial border or along a hedge, where it does not get in the way in summer because it has already gone.

Goes well with

• Lesser celandine: Yellow stars in the same places in March–April, under shrubs and along hedges.
• Red dead-nettle: Flowers at the same time; together an early food source for bees.
• Wood anemone: A white spring flower for under shrubs and trees, which also disappears in summer.
• Common field-speedwell: Bright blue little flowers on the same open ground.

Ivy-leaved speedwell: when and how to plant it?

1. It usually turns up by itself, especially in borders, under shrubs and in the vegetable plot.
2. If you want it somewhere else, collect a few ripe seeds from your own plants in late May, or lay a plant with ripe fruits on the new spot.
3. Scatter the seed in summer or early autumn on loose soil under shrubs or along a hedge; it germinates in autumn and winter.
4. Rake the seed in lightly; watering is not needed, as it grows during the wet part of the year.
5. Never dig up plants from the wild; a handful of seed from your own garden is more than enough.

Care

Water

Not needed: it grows from autumn to spring, when the soil is moist.

Feeding

Not needed.

Weeding

Too much of it? Hoe off or pull up the plants in March before they set fruit; the roots are shallow.

Self-seeding

Let a few plants ripen under shrubs or along a hedge; the ants will do the rest.

Mulching

A layer of mulch in autumn keeps it out where you do not want it, for example in the vegetable plot.

Tip: Do not panic if your borders are full of ivy-leaved speedwell in March: only weed around young seedlings. By June it will have gone by itself, after keeping the soil covered all winter.

Pruning and mowing

When: Not needed: the plants die back by themselves in June.

How:

• This small annual needs no pruning or mowing.
• If you want less of it, hoe off the plants in March or April, before the fruits are ripe.
• Simply leave the withered plants where they are: they rot down quickly and feed the soil.

Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Seed

Ripens in May–June and is spread by ants; it only germinates in autumn. Let it self-seed or scatter some seed under shrubs.

Ivy-leaved speedwell: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to −20 °C.

• Germinates in autumn and overwinters as a small green plant with its first ivy-shaped leaves.
• Fully hardy: frost and snow barely affect it.
• The green carpet covers bare soil in winter and protects it from leaching and capping.

Diseases and pests

• Carpets in borders: Can form dense mats around small perennials in spring. Pull it out around seedlings and young plants; elsewhere it can stay.
• Competition with early vegetables: In March–April it can smother vegetable seedlings. Weed the seedbeds and mulch the soil in autumn.
• Mould spots: In damp weather mould spots sometimes appear on the leaves. No matter: the plant disappears in June anyway.
• Suddenly gone: Not a disease: it is a spring plant that dies after setting seed in June and germinates again in autumn.

Through the year

• January: Small green plants overwinter under shrubs and in borders.
• February: The plants grow and form small mats.
• March: First small lilac flowers; the first hoverflies and bees visit.
• April: Full flower. Weed the vegetable plot where it is in the way.
• May: Last flowers; the fruits bend down and ripen. Ants carry off the seeds.
• June: The plants wither and disappear.
• August: Scatter collected seed under shrubs if you want to spread it.
• October: New seedlings appear.
• November: Young plants go into winter.

Did you know?

• Hederifolia means ‘with ivy leaves’, from the Latin hedera, ivy.
• The name Veronica is often linked to Saint Veronica, although the real origin of the name is uncertain.
• Two subspecies occur in Belgium: one of fields and gardens with light blue flowers, and one of woods and hedgerows with smaller, pale lilac flowers.