Most plants made excellent growth during our cool, wet spring. Standing water in low-lying areas did some damage but plants in well-drained areas made exceptional growth.
We will be seeing the effects of our spring for the rest of the summer. One of those is the bumper crop of poison ivy. Poison ivy is turning up in places were it never has grown before.
We have a forty-foot square patch of wild dewberries in a dry spot near the chicken run. Those vines choke out anything that tries to get a foothold. Not this year though. The poison ivy has nearly overgrown the dewberries this spring. I’m sure it was in large part due to the rain stimulating the poison ivy growth. Poison ivy resembles dewberries at first glance. It would be very easy for someone to walk trough that area without realizing there was poison ivy mixed in.
- Notice the dofference between poison ivy in the center of the photo and a bramble leaf to the left.
Be careful when working in your yard and garden, you may have poison ivy growing and not realize it. As a reminder, poison ivy has three leaflets growing out of a single point on the stem. The leaves are smooth and often, shiny-looking. It can grow as a vine, a shrubby plant or look like any other weed in the yard. Sometimes a young Box Elder seedling is mistaken for poison ivy. If the plant in question has thorns, it is not poison ivy.
It’s a good idea to keep in mind that old saying: “leaflets three, let it be”.
Bob