We listened to music, read the paper, and sipped our coffee this morning. Yesterday was fun, but we put a lot into these gatherings, and we were both pretty much worthless this morning.
After coffee, we decided to take the dogs for a walk. We called our niece Samantha to see if she wanted to join us and she did.
It was chilly with a stiff wind out of the north. I walked the first lap in a tee shirt, but I detoured inside and put on a sweatshirt for the second lap.
a crimson color caught my eye and I stepped over to investigate. It was Virginia Creeper climbing a poplar tree. I snapped a picture. Samantha was interested and stepped over too and I told her touching the vine would be unwise.
It's interesting that some of Mother Nature's most beautiful plants are not human-friendly.
I hope you all had a great Sunday.
My mother thought she was immune to poison ivy, then at 45 she got it and from then she couldn't even walk near it without getting the rash. I've never had it, but I'm not planning on testing my luck.
ReplyDeleteThats a great photo! Sorta makes ya like the wicked plant. I cant touch that stuff or ill need a shot. Yikes.
ReplyDeleteLisa
How fascinating. I have (of course) never seen poison ivy and had no idea it's leaves changed colour. I assume it drops those leaves for winter. Do people react to the stems as well?
ReplyDeleteI posted the picture on Facebook and someone corrected me and said that it was Virginia Creeper. When I Googled it, they were right. Poison Ivy has only 3 leaves. I thought I knew my plants.
DeleteBut, Virginia Creeper is also toxic to some people. Like Poison Ivy, it can cause a severe skin rash including small blisters. I'm not sure about the stem but I assume that it's toxic too.
Somewhere along the line I heard the phrase, "Leaves of three, let it be."
DeleteI have become a little more allergic to poison ivy over the years, but I don't have a problem with Virginia creeper. There is some growing on my chain link fence. The Japanese beetles seem to love my Virginia creeper.
Some specimens do have a great red fall color.
It sure is a pretty plant. I wonder if they suffocate the tree after many years of growth. Jewel weed are a great weed to have around to neutralize the toxin of poison oak or poison ivy and I imagine it would be good also for Virginia Creeper.
ReplyDeleteHugs, Julia
It's only beautiful to look at for sure. You can look but not touch or you will quickly regret it.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I learned something today. I never noticed the color in the poison vine in the fall. I guess I just ignored it in my youth. THANKS, and yep the color is striking.
ReplyDeleteSo often the most beautiful most colorful things in nature are the most dangerous.
ReplyDeleteMaybe, just because it's close to Halloween, I can almost hear the vine whispering, "Come to me, my little pretties!"
ReplyDeleteBeautiful colour to a vine I will never want to be near. It sounds similar to poison ivy and poison oak which I got back in 1987. It covered my entire body, my one eye swelled shut and my body swelled up. I needed an adrenaline shot and I took ice cold baths with ice cubes in it to calm to severe itch.
ReplyDelete...like a beautiful murder suspect in a dime novel!!
ReplyDeleteI don't this we have those here in Oregon, but they sure are pretty.
ReplyDeleteJust makes you want to reach right out and touch it, nice picture Rick.
ReplyDelete