7 Allergy-Causing Flowers to Avoid
We’ve all seen pictures and videos of people smiling and closing their eyes as they smell flowers. You may have also read a lot of books or articles describing the sweet aroma of a garden filled with beautiful and colourful flowers. A lot of products such as perfumes, fabric conditioners, soaps and shampoos even advertise their products and highlight how they smell like a specific flower.
In all of these forms of media, the scent of flowers are no doubt praised and audiences are encouraged to think and even find and experience the fragrance.
What if, however, you are in no way encouraged and inspired to experience their supposedly sweet and fresh fragrance because you know you will be experiencing fits of coughing or sneezing if you do?
It’s quite unfortunate when you’re one of the individuals who have been cursed with allergies. While you get to enjoy the flowers visually, it’s different when you actually get up close to them and know how they smell like without having to think about getting runny noses, red eyes and itchy skin afterwards.
If you’re also a lady, how would you hold a bouquet of flowers when you’re attending a wedding or an anniversary party? Or worse, how would you walk down the aisle on your very own wedding with a bouquet in your hand?
It would no doubt be embarrassing if you spent most of the time on your ceremony sneezing and wheezing with red teary eyes and patches of red on your arms.
Get to know these allergy-causing flowers and protect yourself from their adverse affects:
#1 Asters
These beauties are one of the worst allergy-causing flowers for the unfortunate and sensitive ones. Unlike other flowers’ pollen, their pollen doesn’t have to be carried by the wind to cause severe symptoms. Their symptoms also aren’t limited only to sneezing and coughing. They can also irritate the eyes and redden them and cause itch and irritation on the skin, as well.
#2 Dahlias
Since these flowers belong to the same family as the asters, it’s no surprise that they are irritants. While dahlias are beautiful and attractive, even the smallest contact with their pollen can trigger hay fever symptoms that will last the entire summer.
#3 Daisies
Another attractive and popular type of flower, you should be careful around these small beauties as they also come from the Aster family. Daisies are also known to produce high levels of pollen that also do not need to be transferred by the wind to cause allergic reactions.
#4 Gerbera Daisies
Very much like the aforementioned flower type, gerbera daisies are also well-known for their beauty and bright colours. From colours of yellow, to peach, pink, purple and red, many homeowners decorate the inside and outside of their homes with gerbera daisies. Their pollen, however, can cause a lot of sniffling and sneezing.
#5 Sunflowers
As grand as they are, sunflowers are also well-known for their pollen’s allergy-causing properties despite having no fragrance. You can also tell by the large size of their center disk and the amount of pollen in it. However, they are considered to be hypoallergenic as the wind cannot carry their pollen due to their weight. Still, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
#6 Chamomile
You may have heard of this flower type as they are also produced as tea. However, it’s crucial to remember that it also belongs to the Aster family and produces pollen that cause irritations. Even the tea made from chamomile flowers can also cause allergies.
#7 Baby’s Breath
Due to their size, baby’s breath flowers are often placed in bouquets. While their appearance and name are pretty cute and friendly, their pollen aren’t. This is one of the flower types you wouldn’t want around your wedding bouquet or prom corsage if you aren’t looking forward to getting a runny nose and very itchy eyes. Indeed, these tiny flowers can be small but terrible.
To sum it up, these are some of the flowers that most florists place on their bouquets or can be found in the gardens of homes. We’re also sure that there are much more types out there that can cause allergies. Listing all of those would probably take you the whole day to read the list and you might struggle memorising all of them.
So how do you go about in finding decoration for your home or for your bouquet’s addition? You can steer clear from the ones listed above. However, there’s a much better option - artificial flowers!
Sure, they’re fake. That doesn’t make them any less beautiful, nonetheless. They’re much safer and you can have any flower that you want for your bouquet or decor! There is hope, after all, for those who are cursed from the pollen of flowers.