David, I would not say that this ivy is not of interest in a mediterranean climate, it is certainly not restricted to northern Europe (it may actually grow almost up to the Polar Circle along the coast here in Norway), it is after all native to most of Europe and western Asia. In a hot, dry climate it is probably not as invasive as it may be in cooler parts of the world. I believe that it may be a useful plant, and I hope that those I planted this summer will cover an ugly wire fence quickly. If so, it will make a very useful hedging. Personally, I only knew this as a somewhat difficult potted plant for indoor use (the dry air indoors in Norway is not ideal), and I was very surprised when I saw it growing wild in Greece, at first I did not recognise the large leaves growing higher up, they were very different from those on small house plants. Then I realised that there were two types of leaves, the smaller, palmately five-lobed juvenile leaves on creeping and climbing stems, and the larger, unlobed adult ones on the fertile flowering stems higher up.