Leaves of Three

"Leaves of three, quickly flee."  Grandmother Bessie used this quote to teach me about poison ivy.  I learned from an early age to identify poison ivy and poison oak, or else suffer the consequences.

While gardening yesterday, I had my first 2012 encounter with both poison ivy and poison oak.  Normally when I do garden work, I wear both long sleeved shirt and long pants, I broke my own guideline yesterday.  The reason I wear both long sleeved shirt and pants is to protect myself against, ultra violet rays, thorny rose bushes, jabs from holly bushes, and the dreaded poison ivy and oak.  Who knew gardening could be hazardous?

The good news, I have an extremely mild case, I identified the rash early and began treatment early.  So hopefully, the rash will be a nuisance today and gone tomorrow.

AppleJack has a l o n g and painful history with poison ivy.  Here is one of his many painful encounters with the dreaded ivy. 

It began with Queen Anne's Lace.  Queen Anne's Lace is one of my favorite plants.  It is a common plant and grows wild in ditches, dry fields and open areas.  I use it as filler material with other cut flowers when making arrangements.  AppleJack had gotten himself into the husband dogie house and was trying to think of a way to get himself out.  Knowing I liked Queen Anne's Lace, AppleJack decided to pick some of the wild flower which was growing along side the road and bring home for me to use. 

While picking the wild flower, AppleJack had an encounter with poison ivy.  By the time he got home with the Queen Anne's Lace, the poison ivy he contacted on his ankles was traveling north and had already passed through some tender territory and had reached his waist and was still advancing. 

AppleJack was a red, swollen, itchy mess!  Realizing the poison ivy was determined to spread, we decided a visit to the doc in the box aka Minute Clinic was in order.  One steroid shot later, a prescription, and instructions for cool soaks in the tub, we went home.  The next morning, his case of poison ivy was worse.  Yes, he has a terrible reaction with each encounter.  A second trip to the doc in the box, a second steroid shot, more meds, he was finally beginning to get some relief.

Each time we see Queen Anne's Lace we have a chuckle and say "one of the most painful and expensive weeds I ever picked."

Remember the wise words of Grandmother Bessie "leaves of three, quickly flee."