I realize I might be an unlikely source for botanical information, but this can affect the health of people and pets, and there are also environmental impacts. Myrtle Spurge (see photos) is a highly toxic weed that is more prevalent in the suburbs, but I've seen it in some city yards. It was originally sold as an 
ornamental plant, so it's one of the nicer looking noxious weeds you'll see, but these things are really nasty.
First of all, if you have Myrtle Spurge in your yard, please don't touch it. Brushing up against it should be OK, but cutting it -- either by mowing, weed-wacking or picking it -- releases a milky white sap that causes severe blister-like burns. Obviously, if it can do that to your skin, getting the sap in your eyes or ingesting it is even worse.
When the Spurge flowers, as it is now, it looks nice and is tempting for kids to pick. These burns can be very painful. Also, I have personal experience with the plant when our little Lab pup found some last summer and thought it would make a tasty snack. Grady got really ill and threw up for days until it finally got out of his system.
To top it all off, Myrtle Spurge has no natural enemies -- even deer won't touch the stuff -- and it chokes out grasses and anything else that might grow around it. Because of this fact, the state of Colorado has listed it as a Class A Noxious Weed. This means, believe
it or not, that it's against the law to have it growing on your property. So if you don't remove or kill any Myrtle Spurge you have, you'll get hauled off to the gray bar motel and be forced to tell the more intimidating prisoners that you're in the hole for allowing a noxious weed to grow in your back yard. That will give you some cell block cred for sure!
If you do have Myrtle Spurge on your property, get rid of it quickly. It's flowering now and soon will be spreading its demon seed so prodigiously it would make Tiger blush. You can either spray it with a herbicide or remove it. Obviously, if you're going to be digging it up, wear long pants, shoes, gloves and eye protection. If you're spraying, you can use something like RoundUp, which kills everything it touches. If the spurge is surrounded by other plants and grasses that you don't want to kill, use Weed-Be-Gon or an equivalent. That's what I used and after a couple of applications the Wicked Weed of the West was dead.
Please look around your yard for Myrtle Spurge when you have a chance. If you see any, get rid of it as soon as you can.
ornamental plant, so it's one of the nicer looking noxious weeds you'll see, but these things are really nasty.First of all, if you have Myrtle Spurge in your yard, please don't touch it. Brushing up against it should be OK, but cutting it -- either by mowing, weed-wacking or picking it -- releases a milky white sap that causes severe blister-like burns. Obviously, if it can do that to your skin, getting the sap in your eyes or ingesting it is even worse.
When the Spurge flowers, as it is now, it looks nice and is tempting for kids to pick. These burns can be very painful. Also, I have personal experience with the plant when our little Lab pup found some last summer and thought it would make a tasty snack. Grady got really ill and threw up for days until it finally got out of his system.
To top it all off, Myrtle Spurge has no natural enemies -- even deer won't touch the stuff -- and it chokes out grasses and anything else that might grow around it. Because of this fact, the state of Colorado has listed it as a Class A Noxious Weed. This means, believe
it or not, that it's against the law to have it growing on your property. So if you don't remove or kill any Myrtle Spurge you have, you'll get hauled off to the gray bar motel and be forced to tell the more intimidating prisoners that you're in the hole for allowing a noxious weed to grow in your back yard. That will give you some cell block cred for sure!If you do have Myrtle Spurge on your property, get rid of it quickly. It's flowering now and soon will be spreading its demon seed so prodigiously it would make Tiger blush. You can either spray it with a herbicide or remove it. Obviously, if you're going to be digging it up, wear long pants, shoes, gloves and eye protection. If you're spraying, you can use something like RoundUp, which kills everything it touches. If the spurge is surrounded by other plants and grasses that you don't want to kill, use Weed-Be-Gon or an equivalent. That's what I used and after a couple of applications the Wicked Weed of the West was dead.
Please look around your yard for Myrtle Spurge when you have a chance. If you see any, get rid of it as soon as you can.
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