In Britain, ivy was grown against the house to ward off evil and guard the home; cut ivy was never brought indoors until Christmas Eve and always taken out by Twelfth Night. Bee expert Dave Goulson rates Hedera helix as one of the top plants for wildlife: 'Ivy is not popular with most gardeners and wouldn't be high on many people's list of flowers for pollinators, but it should be,' he urges. The blooms are followed by spheres of black winter berries that can be used in Christmas wreaths or left for the birds to eat; mature ivy is also much shrubbier and denser in habit, so it provides fabulous evergreen shelter for birds.