You've been waiting all year for autumn's brilliant colors to arrive and you're out on a walk just itching to pick up a beautiful red leaf. But how do you know it won't leave you scratching? Poison ...

Leaves of three, let it be. That’s the common expression to avoid run-ins with poison ivy and poison oak — common toxic-to-the-touch plants found in North Carolina’s Triangle area and beyond. Virginia ...

I once thought I was among the 20% of humans who experience no ill effects from poison ivy. But a visit to southern Illinois years ago proved me wrong. Itchy skin with blisters plagued me for weeks.

Poison ivy and Virginia creeper vines climb trees, poles and other objects along woodland edges, hedgerows and roadsides to reach sunlight. Though usually overlooked as having colored leaves in autumn ...

Spring officially arrived on March 20, but for many gardeners and outdoor enthusiasts, the real start of spring occurs the first time the telltale itching, skin rash and blistering appear after ...

A few years ago I was leading a group of Merrimack College ecology students on a nature walk, when one of them pointed to a vine with five leaflets per leaf, and asked if it was poison ivy. “No,” I ...

For large plants, cut the plant at the base, which will kill all the foliage above it. Then spray the stem with herbicide containing as glyphosate, triclopyr, or 2, 4-D. These herbicides are not ...

It is a great time of the year to be outside watching the leaves turn color a little bit each day even though the fall color season is late this year compared to recent years. Collecting those leaves ...

I was at an event last week and I started to shake hands with a friend. He smiled and backed off. I could see why. He was welted from working around poison ivy. “I don’t know where I got it, but I ...

Maybe you like to walk trails and visit natural areas. I do, too. However, it behooves us to consider the potential dangers of plants that can cause a nasty itch. Here are some of the main ones to ...

What if the holiday plant everyone whispers about is more myth than menace? The poinsettia’s scarlet bracts scream danger to the eye, and that milky sap feels like a warning label. Yet the scary ...