Allergy-Friendly Flowers

Filed in archive Hay Fever , Living with Allergies on November 26, 2007

You have pollen allergies but love flowers. Or maybe thinking of bringing someone flowers. Or perhaps attending a wedding or some flowery event. Are you doomed?

Depending on what flowers make up the bouquet, you might escape unscathed, with mimimal itching runny nose and red eyes.

The theory is that the larger blooms have larger pollen, so the pollen is less likely to drift and cause allergic reactions. These flowers often need insects to move the pollen. Some of the best allergy-friendly flowers are daffodils, hydrangeas, garden lilies, tulips, dahlias, peonies, irises, lilies and roses.

Obviously, this is no hard-and-fast rule; it all depends how sensitive you are. If you react violently to flowers of any sort but there's no way of avoiding them, consult your doctor for a possible prophylactic fix.