Can You Eat Poison Ivy?
In my poison ivy research I keep running into the old belief that eating a leaf of poison ivy every day in the spring will make you immune to the itch.
Read MoreDo Dogs Get Poison Ivy?
Do dogs and other species of animals get poison ivy? As far as I’ve discovered, humans are the only species to have such an extreme dermatitis reaction.
Read MoreA Book About Poison Ivy
Yes. Really. I’m not kidding. An entire book about poison ivy. Leaflets Three, Let It Be!: The Story of Poison Ivy, with gorgeous illustrations by Robin Brickman, published in April 2015 by Boyds Mills Press. And whenever I tell people that I’ve written a book about poison ivy, they stare amazed, then suspicious. Why a book about poison ivy? This is why: Usually a class of fifth-graders bounce and chatter like a flock of starlings on a spring day. But this group shuffled behind me, talking among themselves in low murmurs. The closer we got to the head of the trail, the quieter they...
Read MorePoison Ivy: Early Color
It’s summer, it’s warm and sunny and the leaves are all green and blowing in the warm breeze, and school is out and life is good and whoa! What’s that? A red leaf. It’s like seeing a “Back-to-School Sale!” sign in the mall. A sudden warning that the summer has once more fled away and fall is imminent. But it’s not a whole tree going gold or scarlet; that happens later, in fall, right? It’s not October yet. This is just a warning shot—a single leaf here, a branch there. A vine suddenly goes red as a traffic light, bringing you up short. Why, though? Why do some plants abruptly turn bright...
Read MoreIs Poison Ivy Shiny?
True or false? You can always spot poison ivy because it’s shiny. True, sometimes, especially in spring. False, most of the time.
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