A Swedish ivy (Plectranthus verticillatus) plant decorated the Oval Office of the United States White House from the mid-20th century until 2025. Though a popular story attributes the plant's origins to John F. Kennedy, the exact origins of the ivy are unknown. Different presidents have used different arrangements and numbers of the Swedish ivy over the years. The plant was removed from the Oval Office at the start of Donald Trump's second presidency in 2025 and replaced with a collection of golden objects. Trump's removal of the plant was subject to criticism.
Propagations of the plant have historically been a popular gift to White House staffers, who have in turn spread the gift to growers around the United States. The plant features prominently in Barack Obama and Bill Clinton's presidential portraits, and was described as an Oval Office "fixture" and America's "most famous houseplant" prior to its removal. The plant now lives out of public view in the White House greenhouse.
Plant
The plant is a Plectranthus verticillatus. It typically sat on the fireplace mantel of the Oval Office, and various pots of the ivy rotated through the office, growing in a greenhouse when they were not in use. Different presidents kept the plants in varying forms and levels of prunage, with Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter keeping a bushier plant and the ivy taking on a more pruned appearance during the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations.[1] There was also variance in the number of pots of the plant used, with some presidential administrations using a single pot of the plant and some using multiple pots.[1] The ivy's location on the mantel was noted as putting it directly in the president's sightline from their seat at the office's desk.[2] The plant usually sat beneath Charles Wilson Peale's presidential portrait of George Washington which hangs above the mantel.[2]
According to Dale Haney, a longtime White House horticulturist, the plant "loves the light" that it got from the window to the White House Rose Garden to the plant's left.[2] The plant was watered every morning at 7 am, was fed once a month with 20-20-20 fertilizer, and was misted once every six weeks. The top of the ivy occasionally needed to be trimmed to prevent it from blocking the view of the Washington portrait.[2]Propagations of the ivy would be rotated out of the office every "few months" according to Haney, switched with another propagation of the ivy. At a given time, there would be one propagation of the ivy in the Oval Office, while a second propagation recuperated in the White House greenhouse. After around five rotations, the plant would be retired, usually planted on the White House's East Lawn, and replaced with a new propagation.[2]
History
The Oval Office Swedish ivy prominently visible on the mantle during a November 2024 meeting between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
Prior to the introduction of the Swedish Ivy, grape ivy and philodendrons were used to decorate the mantel under Dwight Eisenhower. According to Irv Williams, who served as the Chief White House Horticulturalist, "At first we used [the Swedish Ivy] strictly experimentally," but the plant gained preference because according to Haney, "You need something with a little body there on the mantel".[2]
Usage
The ivy remained in the Oval Office through every administration following its introduction to the mantel until its removal in 2025. It has been noted for being photographed alongside numerous presidents and important historical figures, such as Nelson Mandela and Yitzhak Rabin, as well as important historic events, including Ronald Reagan's meeting with Mikhail Gorbachev, and Donald Trump's meeting with Joe Biden following his 2024 election win.[3] During the Obama administration, the Swedish ivy was briefly swapped out for Cissus alata, another variety of ivy, before the original Swedish ivy was returned to the office. During Donald Trump's first presidency, the plant was divided into two smaller plants for display.[1][5]
In February 2025, during the start of his second term, US President Donald Trump removed the plant from the mantel, replacing it with a series of gold ornaments. The removal was first noticed during Trump's meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu on February 4, 2025. A letter to the editor about the disappearance was published in The Washington Post on February 21, 2025, from Thomas Sneeringer, a reader who had noticed the plant was missing in an image of the meeting published by the paper.[3][6] The plant had stayed on the mantel throughout Trump's first term in office. Some writers and online users, including Sneeringer, speculated that the gold objects were golf trophies, as Trump has a reputation as a fan of the sport, but they were confirmed by the Washington Post to be historical objects, including urns and tableware from past presidents.[1][6]
The White House did not initially respond to questions on the plant's whereabouts,[3] but on March 18, 2025, they confirmed it had been withdrawn out of public view to the White House greenhouse where pots of the ivy had previously been kept when not in use.[1] Some commentators critical of Trump argued that the removal of the plant was symbolic of his presidency.[3][1]Mother Jones wrote that the plant's removal was "emblematic of Trump's assault on the federal government," arguing that the plant had been "subjected to [Trump]'s Midas touch."[3] Columnist Maura Judkis wrote on Trump and the replacement of the ivy that "It's a metaphor — a metaphor that's corny and obvious, yes, but also needed."[1]
Propagations of the Oval Office Swedish ivy have historically been a common gift to White House staffers, and have spread from further propagations of those plants to growers around the United States.[5][3] Rico Gardaphe, a former communications staffer for the Obama administration, was given a propagation of the plant and currently runs an Instagram account dedicated to the Oval Office Swedish ivy.[1]
Reactions
Architect Tyler Survant described the plant as one of the objects that had "earned the status of fixtures" in the Oval Office through reuse across administrations, alongside the Resolute desk and Oval Office grandfather clock.[7] It has been variously described as America's "most famous houseplant" and "the world's most powerful plant".[5][3] A 1984 Time magazine article about the plant speculatively wrote that, "No other [plant] in history has been more photographed".[2]
Dale Haney described the plant as "amazing", emphasizing its resilience and ability to resist pests.[3] In 2022, essayist Jamie Kirkpatrick wrote on the Oval Office Swedish ivy after anonymously being gifted a propagation, writing "Swedish ivy, like its more traditional ivy cousins, represents many things, among them eternity, fidelity, commitment, and loyalty. I'd like to think that all the men and women who are gathering in the Oval Office during these difficult days can breathe in some of those very same qualities and put them to work for the common good".[4]
Gallery
Oval Office Swedish ivy
Gerald Ford and Prime Minister Liam Cosgrave of Ireland in front of the Swedish ivy in 1976. The plant was noted as bushier during the Ford years.
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Gerald Ford and Prime Minister Liam Cosgrave of Ireland in front of the Swedish ivy in 1976. The plant was noted as bushier during the Ford years.
Ronald Reagan met with MI 6 asset Oleg Gordievsky in front of the ivy in 1987.
President George H. W. Bush and Vice President Dan Quayle hold a meeting beneath the ivy in 1991.
Bill Clinton and Al Gore in front of the ivy with CIA Director John Deutch and National Security Advisor Tony Lake in 1996.
George W. Bush and Jose Manuel Durao Barroso in front of the ivy in 2003.
Joe Biden and Barack Obama hold a meeting beneath the ivy in 2011.
During Donald Trump's first term, the ivy was still used as decoration, as seen in this 2017 meeting between Trump and Petro Poroshenko.
President Joe Biden meets with President-elect Donald Trump in front of the ivy in November 2024.
