For numerous people, the initial indication of spring doesn’t come from daffodils blossoming or discarding their coats, but rather from experiencing the characteristic signs of seasonal allergies.
Sneezing, itching, and a general fog that descends with the first warm breeze – for some – marks the start of the warmer seasons.
Although some people manage to avoid the most severe effects, many still end up confronting the hidden foe of pollen in surprising manners.
Although commonly known as “hay fever,” the actual cause of this annual discomfort is not hay, but rather tiny pollen particles emitted by trees, grasses, and weeds.
It’s not just any pollen, but the virtually weightless variety that drifts into our nostrils and triggers our immune response. The offenders include trees, weeds, grasses, and even some beloved flowers.
But pollen isn’t all bad. It’s essential to the reproduction of plants, the survival of insects and
the entire food web.
Humans cannot thrive without it, so we should generally refrain from shunning high-pollen plants. Nevertheless, if you’re someone with allergies who has skipped gardening because of your health, selecting plants that produce minimal pollen might allow you to enjoy floral scents after all.
Allergy-inducing plants are those that rely on wind rather than bees or butterflies to spread their pollen. Ragweed, which strikes in late summer and early fall, gets the most notoriety, but its springtime counterparts can be at least as irritating.
According to the Ogden Plant Allergy Scale (OPALS)—created by horticulturist Thomas Ogren and detailed in his 2020 publication “The Allergy-Fighting Garden”—the trees most prone to causing allergic reactions include birch (Betula), catalpa (Catalpa), cypress (Cupressus), elm (Ulmus), hickory/pecan (Carya), oak (Quercus), sycamore (Platanus), and walnut (Juglans).
Palm trees as well — however, only the male ones. Actually, female trees do not produce pollen whatsoever, so look for those whenever you can.
Grasses can irritate eyes and sinuses, too. The scale ranks Bermuda (except sterile male varieties), Johnson, Kentucky, orchard, sweet vernal and timothy grasses among the highest for allergens.
Weeds like ragweed, curly dock, lamb’s quarters, pigweed, plantain, sheep sorrel and sagebrush are also big pollen producers, Ogren found.
On the other hand, plants with “double” flowers or heavier pollen that doesn’t travel far are less likely to release much pollen.
Among trees, apricot (Prunus armeniaca), fig (Ficus), fir (Abies), fruiting pear (Pyrus), fruiting plum (Prunus domestica, Prunus insititia), redbud (Cerus),
serviceberry
(Amelanchier laevis), female ash (Fraxinus), female boxelder (Acer negundo), female poplar/cottonwood (Populus), female maple (Acer), female palm (Arecaceae), and female willow (Salix) are gentler on the respiratory system.
For lawn care, St. Augustine and sterile male Bermuda are more reliable choices.
When it comes to flowers, you have plenty of choices: begonias, lady clematises, columbines, crocuses, daffodils, delphiniums, hibiscuses, impatiens, irises, birds of paradise, pansies, petunias, phloxes, poppies, snapdragons, tulips, verbenas, and zinnias make great companions. And let’s not forget about roses—especially the densely petaled types, as they produce even lesser amounts of pollen compared to their single or semi-double counterparts (it turns out rose allergies usually stem from scent rather than pollen, says Ogren).
If seasonal allergies affect you, keeping your windows shut and having another person handle mowing the lawn can also provide relief.
stop your symptoms before they start
.
The Independent has always had a global perspective. Built on a firm foundation of superb international reporting and analysis, The Independent now enjoys a reach that was inconceivable when it was launched as an upstart player in the British news industry. For the first time since the end of the Second World War, and across the world, pluralism, reason, a progressive and humanitarian agenda, and internationalism – Independent values – are under threat. Yet we, The Independent, continue to grow.
