leaves of three...

...let it be!

Yikes!  I found this in my flower bed yesterday afternoon.  You can't see in the photo -- but it is a viney type plant and there are two more of the 3 leaf stems.  I was keeping my eyes open because my next door neighbor had a nasty run in with poison ivy in his own yard.  I kept asking Rick what it looked like and he really wasn't sure -- just that it has 3 leaves.

When I saw it, I stopped my weeding and ran into the house to get a tissue and a plastic bag.  I already had gloves on, so I took the tissue and pulled out the entire small plant -- root and all.  Then I dropped it on the ground so I could open the plastic bag as wide as possible.  I then took my snipping shears and gently picked up the plant at the area surrounded by the tissue -- put it in the bag -- and zip locked it shut.  So that is what you are seeing in the photo.

Rick is going to find some spray -- I read that Roundup works -- so I can defend myself next time this monster pops up unexpectedly in my garden.

Here is a good website with information on poison ivy:  Poison Ivy Tutorial  and Poison Ivy Identification

According to both of these sites, the best way to prevent a poison ivy rash is to be aware of what the poison ivy plant looks like.  Reading the information at these sites is well worth the time.