Flowers and allergies

Flowers and allergies

Flowers are beautiful. They brighten up a room and make everything in it appear more beautiful and cheerful. For most people, a vase of flowers on the table means that this room is a happy, a comfortable place. However, for allergy sufferers, a flower vase is anything but inviting - it is treacherous. If you are one of those unfortunate people who like fresh flowers but need to consider the impact on your allergies, plastic flowers are not your only option. You just need to know which types of flowers are dangerous. Of the wide variety of flowers you can plant or purchase, many types of flowers have very little or no effect on your allergies.

Dangerous flowers for allergy sufferers

The truth is, if your allergies are particularly severe, most flowers will affect you negatively. In general, the more dangerous flowers are the ones with more pollen. A good guideline when decorating with flowers is to avoid those with visible pollen.

One type of flower that is particularly bad for allergy sufferers is tree flowers. When creating a floral arrangement, be careful not to use almond, cherry, orange, or other tree blossoms. Although they are beautiful flowers, they are one of the most severe allergies.

Lilies are some of the more dangerous flowers for allergy sufferers because parts of them are covered in powdery orange pollen. Oddly enough, however, they can be a good choice for allergy sufferers because it's easy to remove the pollen stalks from each flower. Just have a non-allergic friend or family member do this particular job, as you'll probably be sneezing in two seconds.

Good flowers for allergy sufferers

There are different types of flowers that suffer less from allergies. One of them may be mums and daisies. While regular mums and daisies have a lot of pollen, a new hybrid type of daisy called formal doubles contains no pollen at all and therefore does not aggravate allergies. Forma double flowers have been bred so that the parts of the flower that used to produce pollen now produce petals. However, be careful of regular mums and daisies as they can be very allergic. If in doubt, ask your florist.

Another good choice for allergy sufferers are roses. Roses are some of the most beautiful and elegant flowers you can find, and fortunately for allergy sufferers, they don't have a major impact on allergies. The reason for this is that their pollen is too large to become airborne and truly infiltrate the respiratory system. When in doubt, choose roses with little or no smell - the less smell, the less pollen.

Last but not least, orchids are one of the best types of flowers for allergy sufferers. Orchids are beautiful and exotic flowers that comes in an amazing variety of shapes and colors. Very few types of orchids cause pollen allergies and are therefore fairly safe for those with allergies to most flowers. However, it is important to note that some orchids may cause a mild rash in sensitive individuals.

Inspired by Amy Nutt