Your Florida Backyard NSiS Home Page Your Florida Backyard Low Allergen Gardening with Florida's Native Plants
You may not have to hide inside if you have mild pollen or mold allergies.
 
Most people don't know what they're allergic to, only that they are allergic to "something that's blooming" or that they always have "colds this time of year." Allergy testing only takes an hour or two and can pinpoint the source of allergies. If you know which plants you're allergic to, obviously you should avoid those, but it's not always quite that easy.
 
Pollen
 
Basic types of pollen transport:
It's the wind-borne pollen that causes the most allergy problems. Most trees and grasses are wind-pollinated.
 
The good news: Nectar plants for butterflies and hummingbirds are not likely to be a problem for allergy sufferers.
 
Zeroing in on the Bad Guys
 
Basic types of flowers oversimplified: This leads us to: This is why male plants are considered the bad guys. But even amongst the bad guys, some are worse than others. If they only bloom for a few days each year, they don't compare to those that bloom for multiple seasons.
 
The function of male plants is to produce pollen, not seeds or fruit.
 
The good news: We want seeds and fruit for our wildlife gardens and these are the ones with a lower allergen potential.
 
More good news: We probably aren't allergic to most of the plants that do produce pollen.
 
Mold
 
Then there's molds. Molds hide in mulch and compost and the soil in potted plants and ... mold spores float around in the air. It's Florida, it's moist, mold is happy. Beyond Your Control
 
Even if you have no plants in your garden that produce wind-borne pollen, mold spores and pollen are probably in the air. In Florida, there are problems year round. General Precautions
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