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It does not simply climb. It campaigns 🌿⚔️
Family: Araliaceae · Pot diameter: 13 cm · Height: approximately 35 cm
Hedera algeriensis ‘Gloire de Marengo’ is the ivy that turns a plain vertical surface into a bright architectural composition. Its large, glossy leaves combine a grey-green centre, irregular green brushstrokes and a broad cream margin, creating depth and crisp contrast in every season. Long evergreen trails can dress a wall, soften a pergola or spill dramatically downwards. This historic, award-winning selection has an instantly recognisable character — ideal when you want generous coverage that looks elegant well before it fills the available space.
Its natural flexibility offers three clear design choices: upward coverage on a strong support, a free cascade from a tall pot or broad ground cover. In every form, the cream margin acts like a permanent line of light, making the foliage stand out even in quiet, shaded corners.
Three precise traits explain why ‘Gloire de Marengo’ remains distinctive more than a century after its selection.
The grey-green centre and broad cream margin create large, crisp patterns that remain legible from a distance.
Young shoots form aerial roots along the contact side and gradually anchor themselves to a suitable rough surface.
This 1880 selection combines classic horticultural history with variegation that looks entirely contemporary in courtyards and on terraces.
Why you will love it: it creates generous evergreen coverage, brightens vertical spaces and retains a strong graphic presence even without flowers.
Allow it to cover a strong trellis, metal wires, a pergola or sound rough masonry. On a painted, smooth or delicate surface, use a freestanding support set slightly away from the wall so the growth remains easy to control.
For a trailing display, place it in a tall outdoor pot and leave generous free space below the rim. As ground cover, guide the first shoots outwards in several directions until they close the gaps.
Pair the luminous margin with lower-growing forms that enjoy bright partial shade and freely draining organic soil. Position companion roots slightly in front of the ivy base so every plant retains its own clear space.
Morning sun or bright partial shade suits warm Mediterranean conditions. Good light keeps the variegation crisp, but hot afternoon sun can damage the cream sectors.
Maintain even moisture during establishment and water deeply when the top few centimetres dry. Always provide free drainage.
RHS H5, approximately −15 to −10°C under British conditions. In cold or windswept positions, choose a sheltered wall.
Harmful if eaten and a possible skin irritant or allergen. Prevent chewing and wear gloves when pruning.
Provide morning sun or bright partial shade. In very deep shade the contrast may soften, while prolonged hot afternoon sun increases the risk of dry cream margins.
Plant in fertile organic soil that retains some moisture yet drains freely. Beside a wall, set the root about 30–45 cm away from the dry base and guide the shoots diagonally towards the support.
Water deeply through the first growing season whenever the surface dries. Established ivy tolerates short dry spells better, but prolonged water shortage dulls the foliage and dries the pale sectors first.
Use a heavy outdoor pot with generous drainage holes and a stable, independently fixed trellis. Repot gradually when the roots fill the available space, and check moisture more frequently in heat and wind.
Attachment rootlets work best on a sound, rough surface. On smooth render, paint, timber, insulation or a cracked wall, use an offset trellis or stainless-steel wires and prevent shoots from entering gutters, roof tiles or window frames.
1. Fan out the young shoots and tie them loosely. 2. Once they begin attaching, remove or loosen the ties. 3. In late winter, shorten growth that has crossed the intended boundary and remove every entirely green shoot at its point of origin.
In average soil, a thin spring layer of mature compost or light balanced feeding is sufficient. Avoid excess nitrogen, which encourages long, soft growth. The foliage remains evergreen, although cold may add pink tones to the cream margins.
After planting, the plant first organises its base. Young shoots are spread outwards and held loosely against the support so they do not form a single dense vertical rope.
Clusters of aerial roots form along the side touching the surface. Ties become unnecessary once the shoots anchor themselves and begin to branch.
In 5–10 years it can reach about 2.5–4 m in height and spread. Annual pruning keeps the boundaries clean and preserves a visible support structure where required.
Several main shoots fan out across a visible trellis and branch laterally; mature coverage of 2.5–4 m stays clearly defined when its boundaries are pruned before reaching gutters and frames.
The support remains part of the plant’s architecture at every stage. Coverage speed, density and variegation intensity vary with light, moisture, temperature and pruning.
What to expect after planting: the first progress appears in a settled base and new shoots rather than instant full coverage. As the shoots attach and branch, the cream-and-green surface becomes denser from the base upwards.
The story begins in North Africa, the native home of Hedera algeriensis from northern Algeria to Tunisia. The species formally entered botanical literature in 1853, when it was published as a distinct North African ivy.
The cream-and-green line appears in European horticultural literature as early as 1867 under the name Hedera algeriensis var. variegata. The next defining chapter was written in 1880 at Villa Marengo in Algeria, where the form that became known as ‘Gloire de Marengo’ — the “Glory of Marengo” — was selected.
As it travelled through European nurseries, the cultivar was sold for decades as Hedera canariensis ‘Gloire de Marengo’. Modern RHS taxonomic treatment retains the accepted name Hedera algeriensis ‘Gloire de Marengo’ and records the name under H. canariensis as an earlier misapplication.
It received the RHS Award of Garden Merit in 1993. A nineteenth-century variegated North African selection thus travelled through historic nurseries and changing names to become one of the most recognisable evergreen ivies in modern gardens.
In ivy, small contact roots enter surface irregularities, flatten and become lignified. Root hairs secrete an adhesive substance and, as they dry, change shape and pull the root even closer to the support; mechanical anchorage and chemical adhesion work together.
The juvenile, non-flowering phase produces lobed leaves and the aerial roots that make climbing possible. When a shoot enters the adult flowering phase, the leaves become less lobed and its ability to produce attachment roots decreases sharply.
An experiment on variegated Hedera helix leaves found that white sectors did not respond to red light at the tested intensity and were more sensitive to drought than green sectors. The margin is therefore often the first tissue to show heat or water stress.
Six practical answers covering light, attachment, walls, mature size, pots, reversion and safety.
Morning sun or bright partial shade gives crisp variegation with less risk of scorching. In a cool microclimate it tolerates more sun, provided the root does not remain dry for long.
Young shoots need initial training. On a sound rough surface, aerial roots gradually take over attachment; on a smooth or delicate surface, retain a permanent trellis or wires.
Attachment roots do not bore into sound masonry, but they can enter existing cracks, loose render or joints. Keep growth away from gutters, roof tiles and frames, and use an independent support where the surface is uncertain.
The RHS gives approximately 2.5–4 m in height and spread within 5–10 years. In a mild climate it may continue further, while regular pruning readily keeps it within a smaller predetermined area.
This is reversion to non-variegated tissue. A green shoot usually has more photosynthetic tissue and may become more vigorous, so remove it completely at its point of origin.
It is not safe to eat. The RHS lists it as harmful if eaten and a possible skin irritant or allergen for people and pets. Keep it away from chewing and wear gloves when pruning.
