by Peggy Robin
Here's a letter from a Washington Post reader in response to the photo below, which you will find in the print edition of today's paper ("Free for All" letters column, Saturday, February 22, 2025):
From ivy league to bush league
From the photo by Jabin Botsford accompanying the Feb. 5 front-page article “Move Gazans to another country, Trump urges,” it appears the fireplace mantel in the Oval Office has been subjected to President Donald Trump’s Midas touch. Could those gaudy things possibly be “golf club championship” trophies? Where’s the traditional spray of Swedish ivy that has adorned the mantel for administration after administration, including Trump I? As Oval Office decor has come and gone over the years, that ivy has long been a symbol of stability and endurance. I hope the plant is being kept alive somewhere, and I hope to see it return.
Thomas M. Sneeringer, Washington
We join the letter-writer in asking what happend to the potted Swedish ivy that used to be on that distinguished mantelpiece, going back to the original sprig put there over half a century ago, a gift to the Kennedy White House from Sweden.
But I am happy to report that there's a positive bit of news to the hope expressed in the last sentence of the letter: "I hope the plant is being kept alive somewhere...." Yes, I think it is! And the Cleveland Park Listserv is the reason for my confidence!
On December 7, 2022, Cleveland Park Listserv member Marc G. posted this giveaway message on the Listserv:
I propagated Swedish ivy from my plant that has its origins in the Obama White House (see the attached info on the White House ivy and the provenance of my plant). Let me know if you’d like one of the four plants in the attached picture.
Marc
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White House Swedish Ivy
I have two cuttings from my Obama WH Swedish ivy plant that are starting to root, if you'd like them? Here's a pic of the ivy:
It wasn't long before he reported: "All the Swedish ivy has been taken – thanks for the great response!" (Message #196026 12/17/22)
I'm pleased to report that this giveaway was one of 5 messages nominated for a Cleveland Park Listy award in the category of "Best Giveaway Message of 2022". Here's the nomination, in full:
Free: Swedish Ivy from the Obama White House. Here's a giveaway of both historical and horticultural import. Marc was giving away potted Swedish ivy ivy propagated from a plant that has its origins in the Obama White House. Links included in Marc's message (#196017 ) provided this description of "The world’s most powerful plant": "There’s a life form at the Oval Office that’s outlasted staffers, presidents and political eras. It’s Swedish ivy, a gift to John F. Kennedy in 1961 whose progeny still, as far as we can tell, sits on a mantle beneath a portrait of George Washington. In 1983, Time magazine described it as one of the most powerful plants on the globe: “No other in history has been more photographed, more glimpsed in person by the world’s high and mighty, more privy (if a plant can be privy) to the portentous intimacies of world politics.”
And it won!!! When the envelope was opened, here's the reveal:
In the category of Best Giveaway, the Listy goes to.....
Marc, who propagated Swedish ivy from a plant that had its origins in the Obama White House. But that was only part of the story, which had deeper roots, going all the way back to the JFK White House in 1961. To see photos of the historic plant behind the seated president, go to Message #196017 , where you can also click on the links to the accompanying articles that cover the journey of the ivy over the past half-century. Just as the potted ivies were bestowed upon a few lucky Cleveland Park Listserv members, so we bestow the Listy upon Marc for Best Giveaway of the Year.
So we know there are list members out there who have the cuttings! I hope they're good plant tenders and are keeping the ivy alive and well for the time when this plant can be returned to a place of honor in the White House. (If one or both of the list members who took the Swedish Ivy would like to update us, we'd be very grateful!)
If and when that day comes, I will be proud of the small part the Cleveland Park Listserv played in the restoration of dignity and greenery to that historic mantel!
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Still Life with Robin is published on the Cleveland Park Listserv and on All Life Is Local on Saturdays.
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