Hello All,
Back in April of 2025, I introduced Short Takes. Micro blog posts of five hundred words or less. A format well suited to those leading busy lives or others like me possessing short attention spans. Regardless, I then provided but three short take posts, opting instead to burden you with my long-winded personal experiences, political opinions, and somewhat interesting commentary.
I would like to offer Short Takes on a more regular basis, and will do my best to keep this promise. I know Jim Ringle and a few other friends and neighbors will be pleased.
Let’s go.
One morning I noticed this plant sitting on our kitchen island. My wife Deborah, a knowledgeable, experienced, and perpetually engaged gardener, informed me that it was a Swedish Ivy, also called a “Creeping Charlie”. It was a gift from our daughter Natalie. Actually, it was a clipping from another Creeping Charlie provided by a friend and colleague of hers. It seems you can clip part of certain plants, put them in water or soil, and they will grow into a full-fledged plant of that variety. Who knew? You, probably, and practically everyone else but me.
Okay, so we got our clipping from Natalie, hers from her friend. And her friends from I don’t know where. I have been assured, however, that our clipping and all those in the line can be traced back to the JFK Whitehouse. Yikes. Come on. How is this possible?
The rest of the story-
In 1961 Irish ambassador Thomas Kiernan presented President Kennedy with a Swedish ivy plant. It’s not actually an ivy, so perhaps it’s best that it became widely known as a Creeping Charlie. It took up residence on the mantel piece opposite the president’s desk in the oval office. Several photos of the Creeping Charlie on the mantelpiece exist. Here are a few…….
The White House Horticulturalist, Irvin Williams (Deborah is our resident horticulturalist) confirmed its existence in 1962. More interestingly, White House gardeners maintained several genetically identical descendants of the original Creeping Charlie. A Creeping Charlie plant would spend a few months on the oval office mantle, then be returned to the White House greenhouse, while another took its place. Older plants were retired, and new plants were grown from the cuttings. So, the Creeping Charlie we have is part of a living presidential lineage going back to John F. Kennedy. All presidents since then have displayed the Creeping Charlie. Its shape changed considerably—sometimes bushy, sometimes closely trimmed, sometimes divided among several pots. It became so familiar in official photographs that Time suggested in 1984 that it might be the most photographed plant in history.
Because Swedish ivy is ridiculously easy to propagate, one employee’s clipping became a plant large enough to produce another 20 or 50 cuttings. Those went to relatives, neighbors and friends, who made more. The result resembles a botanical family tree:
Oval Office plant → White House employee → friend → relative → neighbor → another friend → hundreds or thousands of descendants.
One now proudly sits in our kitchen. Let me know if you’d like a clipping. But TJ, do you have any documentation? No. Any other proof? Not exactly. But I do have faith. And sometimes that’s all we need. Especially these days.
Note: It was reported in 2025 that the Creeping Charlie in the current White House was destroyed during Trump’s redecorating project. Must have clashed with all that gold. Readers take heart. The Washington Post reported that the Creeping Charlie is securely stored in the White House greenhouse. Whew.
Thanks for reading,
Paul Tolejko
I left my home in the small Western New York city of Batavia in March 1977 vowing never to shovel snow again. Never say never. Settling for 38 years in what was for me the "promised land" of Santa Barbara, California. I married, helped raise a family, started a business, traveled and live a wonderful life. We spent the last 10 years of our west coast journey in the small, quiet, picturesque town of Ojai. My oldest friends call me TJ.
My wife Deborah and I moved to Colorado in 2015 to be near our daughter, her husband and 2 growing grand-boys. Add 2 bulldogs (French & English) to the mix and our hands and hearts are full. We all reside in Niwot, a small quaint town 15 minutes north of Boulder. The mighty Rocky Mountains are at our doorstep.
I am a man, son, brother, cousin, friend, husband, father, uncle, grand father, in-law and mostly retired Coloradan. You can read more about me on the About Page. If you are curious about my professional life you can visit my Career at Venture Horizon.
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My mother had a green thumb. Her nickname was “Charlie” and we did indeed have Creeping Charlie plants. i hope Charlie finds a safe peaceful nook in the greenhouse for the next couple of years. We all know tRump doesn’t do green.
PS – Save me a clipping!!!
Hi Regan,
Green thumbs must run in your family, you being a master gardener and all. I will save a clipping for you once it matures. I am pretty sure the White House Charlie is in good hands and will be returned to its rightful place on the mantle soon.
My best,
Paul