Okay, show of hands here. How many of us know the difference between poison ivy and Virginia creeper?
(raises hand)
Okay, a test.
Which one is which?
We have both in our yard, as evidenced by the many, many times my husband has come down with itchy whelps after doing yard work. I know what poison ivy looks like. Apparently he doesn’t.
I’ve noticed this year that the poison ivy has spread a great deal all over our yard. Never before have I had so many little sprouts of poison ivy in my garden beds. I’ve pulled most of it up (wearing gloves! always wearing gloves!) as I’ve found it, and still it comes.
The only thing I can attribute to this bloom of poison ivy is the ice storm we had earlier in the year. The ice killed off a good many things, and as nature is designed, survival is imperative. So it’s spread. How? I don’t know, but I think maybe the birds had a bit to do with it, eating the berries and distributing them as only birds can.
I am hoping not to have to cope with this problem next year.
(Answer: the photo on the left is poison ivy. The photo on the right is Virginia creeper. Each of them causes their own set of problems.)
— Mox
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