PlantFiles: Swedish Ivy, Swedish Begonia, Whorled Plectranthus
Plectranthus verticillatus

I have not grown this plant which has become naturalized (introduced) in Puerto Rico.

These were my very first houseplant. The ones I have now came from cuttings given to me by a friend over 30 years ago. They make a really nice container plant and mix nicely with coleus and spider plants. I noticed that the plants that were in full sun had leaves that were a lighter green and had more pronounced purple veins in the leaves than the ones indoors or in the shade, which were a darker green and didn't show purple in the leaves, only in the stems.

Great Plectranthus . Plectranthus verticillatus is not really an Ivy just named that after where it first came from.

I got this as an overgrown pot plant when I bought my house. It escaped its pot, so it can be somewhat of a pest. Easily removed though. I'm using it as erosion control around my pool, it doesn't mind the heavy clay alkaline soil. Grows fast from small pieces just stuck in the dirt. Flowers are cute and slightly lavendar coloured.

I have always loved the Swedish Ivy. They used to be found everywhere, but I'm not seeing them much anymore. They make outstanding hanging baskets, and propagation is so easy - just break them off, stick them in the soil, and let them grow! A wonderful plant whose leaves have a very unusual - but not unpleasant - aroma.

I've had two monstrous Swedish Ivy plants growing for 2½ years in southeast-facing windows, so they get direct morning light year 'round. They're so robust I have to trim them constantly, and I can't see the pots they hang in anymore! I grew them from one tiny cutting -- they root like crazy in a glass of water. Every branch seems to have an overabundance of root nubs on it. It tends to trail and can get leggy, so over the years I've trimmed them to encourage them to "round out"... when I trim the plant, I pop clippings in water and then two weeks later pass off siblings and children of them to friends and neighbors because they're so incredibly easy to maintain. Nice, meaty, glossy leaves (a lovely green) and wine-colored branches, no insect pests to worry about... I just give them a soak when the top soil dries out (well-draining containers), and feed occasionally from spring to fall. My favorite ivy!

I love this plant. I stole it from my sister-in-law who was killing it in full sun with no water. ;-) It grows like wildfire, and has a nice trailing habit. It also seems to like to be wet. The one time I tried it in full sun it started to die...but I think I must not have been watering it enough if other people have had success with it. Or perhaps it just doesn't like Southern California's super-intense version of full sun! I've kept it in shade ever since then.
It is incredibly easy to propogate from clippings. I just peel off a few bottom leaves from the clipping and put it in a cup of water by a window. It roots in a few weeks. I have these all over the place!
I had not clue that it would actually flower, though, so I'm gonna try it in the sun again and see what happens. =)

I echo Boozers comments above. I'm also in Jacksonville, Florida, Zone 8b/9a, and my Swedish Ivy survives the winters with some nights as cold as 28 F this past season. It spreads quickly to fill any container, but I prefer it as an easy to maintain ground cover around plants in my garden.

Jeremy

I have had this plant growing continuiously over 40 years. I started it from a cutting my mother gave me back in Connecticut.
Over the years it has traveled with me wherever I have lived.
"Up North", I would bring it outdoors in early summer and bring it back inside early fall. In Florida it's outdoors all year in zone 10 but it needs to be in the shade.
I water it when the dirt surface is dry, cut it when it gets too long and fertilize it March, July and October. About every eighteen months I have to cut back the rootball and repot it. It has not bloomed since being in Florida.
The leaves were much bigger in Connecticut than they are here. They were also more fleshy there than they are here. This is probably the easiest plant I have ever owned to reproduce from cuttings.

This is one of my favorite plants. I have had it almost a year, and am looking forward to watching it bloom. I didn't know it did that. I can understand not wanting it in the ground- fighting ivy is a task for a superhero. But in a pot, it is great. It creeps beautifully along it's mantle and drapes down where it reaches and edge.

This plant is extremely easy to maintain. It roots from cuttings in about three days. I have started many plants from cutting to share with friends.

Very easy to grow - I have mine in a hanging basket in full shade and it blooms all summer! Very easy to share, too! Just cut and plant! Great plant!

I got a cutting of this plant from my mom, and have been growing it for over 4 years now. It has grown like a weed, so much that I have to start wrapping the vines around. I have it in full sunlight, and does very well in my tiny apartment. I have done some research on it, due to the new addition to my family. It is not poisenious to cats. And so far she hasn't bothered it one bit, except to bound over and around it to get to the window.
I absolutely love this plant. I have given many a cuttings to friends and family. This is one plant that is hard to kill.
However, I have never had any flowers.
Best of Luck!!!

I took a cutting from one of my friend's "Creeping Charlie" plants. I planted it in a pot. Within two months it was growing out of the pot and needed a new pot.

Since then, I have been growing what I now know to be "Swedish Ivy" - everywhere around the house. Swedish Ivy looks great and stays such a bright apple green all year around. In spring and summer, mostly, it has delicate bunches of flowers.

Easy to grow.

I have had good resluts with this plant .. I really like it . it grows very nicely were I Live in NorthEastern Oregon but I grow mine indoors .. and I do beleive it is not poisonous to animals ...but search houshold plants and it will give you information... but I do know that most of the ivy family is very highly poisonous to anmils so becarefull .. it is a very easy plant to start cuttings from and just a all around nice plant

Very easy to grow - sun or shade. Mine hangs from the bottom of my upstairs deck & reaches the ground. I live in NE Florida & each year we have periods of sub-freezing weather & this beautiful vine does much better if I leave it outside with an old bed sheet draped over it rather than bringing it indoors.

This makes a beautiful hanging basket. Requires lots of water and must be grown in sun or will not bloom. Makes lush foliage in shade but flowers well in the sun.

Plectranthus verticillatus, native to eastern South Africa, is called "Swedish Ivy" because its discoverer first sent it to Sweden, where it quickly became widely grown as a house plant. From there it was introduced to the rest of Europe and the U.S. It is sometimes erroneously sold as P. australis, a synonym of P. parviflorus, which is a completely different species native to Australia. In addition to use as an easy container plant, this semi-succulent Plectranthus is adaptable to sun or shade outdoors. It makes an attractive, fast-spreading groundcover in mild climates and can be used as a summer bedding plant where it freezes in winter. In the wild, it is highly variable, but in the European and U.S. trades there is apparently only one clone. It has white flowers spotted violet in fall and winter. Occasionally seen its sport that is randomly striped and blotched with white In South Africa there are other clones, including one with pink flowers.

If you are using a set of containers, be careful with this plant, or it may invade the other containers around. Besides this, Swedish Ivy is a very beautiful herb, good for gorwing both inside and outside.

I love this plant. It can be an annual outside, but works best in containers inside. Grows quickly and beautifully.