Poison Ivy

I read an article in the paper today about poison ivy and wrote in to the writer. She probably won't enjoy my email much, but what the heck, I'll post it here. Some "fond" memories there!

I've had poison ivy in my back yard, so I read your article with interest. It appears that the photo of the cluster of three green leaves on the first page of the Home and Garden section is not poison ivy. I'm sure you had no choice about the photos chosen--being a writer, I know how that goes.

I had a rash on my hand years ago that I thought was allergy to tomato plants. I showed it to a wise neighbor, and she said "Let me see your back yard!" She pointed out the poison ivy plants to me.

There's lots of stuff back there, including other types of ivy and Rose of Sharon bushes in every size. I had a lot of trouble identifying poison ivy leaves, especially compared to the Rose of Sharon leaves, until my neighbor Dr. Brimberry's little boy told me his daddy had taught him the poison ivy leaves have a "thumb." Sure enough, they do.

They are gorgeous in autumn, as your article mentioned. I've pulled them all out by now, after 26 years in this house, and only occasionally see a little bit. I think they move through the storm drains from Dolese Park. LOTS of it in the park the last time I looked. Poison ivy likes shade, so you want to be alert for it there.

I took a photograph years ago of my beautiful little Miniature American Eskimo Dog named Angel, wearing a red bandana and with a background of autumn leaves. I eventually realized those were poison ivy.

I was not allergic to poison ivy as a young person, but I discovered that repeated exposure can eliminate that immunity. I used to stand barefoot in my backyard right among those bushes in the photo behind Angel, picking mulberries from the trees above.

And then there was the time I got a new dog who romped like crazy with my other dog in the backyard on his first day with us, and needed 45 minutes of combing that evening. Talk about big hair, he had it. There was a poison ivy area out there I had missed, and the dogs ran through it on every pass around the yard.

That was Saturday, and on Tuesday I broke out with poison ivy on the inside of the forearm that had wielded the comb. The dog was fine. It is true that poison ivy doesn't bother them. Like many other dog owners, I'd rather suffer through it myself than have it happen to my dog.