Colorful Landscapes for Gardeners with Pollen Allergies

Any sufferers of pollen allergies believe they can't enjoy creating colorful landscapes and gardens. With some planning and forethought, this doesn't have to be true. Pollen allergies are aggravated by the pollen produced by blooming plants -- flowers, vegetables and fruits. There is a wide selection of colorful landscape choices for gardeners with pollen allergies which won't result in an allergy attack.

If you have pollen allergies, rule out any plants which bloom in your climate. It should be noted that some plants which bloom in tropical climates grow well but never bloom in climate zones only slightly farther north. One great example, the beautiful rust and golden croton petra, blooms annually in South Florida and southern Texas but rarely, if ever, blossoms in any other area. Also, plants with very tiny blossoms do not produce a significant amount of pollen and bother only those with the most severe allergies.

There are numerous varieties of crotons from which to choose. The croton known as "gold dust plant" has green leaves speckled with bright gold. The more sun the plant gets the brighter the gold speckles. The fiddle-back croton has tiny fiddle-shaped secondary leaves on the colorful variegated primary leaves.

False aralia is another rarely blooming plant, seldom seen blooming outside the tropics. The multi-pointed leaves of some varieties are dark purple while others are red, silver, or variegated. Easy to grow, false aralia does well in sunny areas.

A great hanging basket plant or ground cover plant with a touch of color is the common spider plant or airplane plant. The traditional yellow-white and green striped variety or the newer variety with golden variegated leaves create beautiful arching bundles and multiply by offsets which each create a new plant on the end and will readily root wherever they are produced or can be transplanted or removed for potting. While these plants do produce tiny flowers on the ends of the offsets before the new plant begins, they are extremely low in pollen and work well as indoor or outdoor specimens.

Bromeliads are available in colors ranging from deep purple to silver-green. These plants grow best in the southern regions but can be grown in pots and taken indoors for over-wintering in any climate zones. The bromeliad family is easily identified because the leaves develop into a vase-like rosette which stores water. In fact, bromeliads should be watered not just from the soil but by placing water into the 'vase'. These plants do infrequently produce blooms but have very little pollen, making them especially great for those with allergies. When the plants do bloom, the unique blossoms last for weeks.

For deep purple foliage, choose Moses-in-the-bulrushes. This plant can be used as ground cover, specimen, and hanging baskets or grown in pots. The dark royal purple leaves add a sharp contrast to green foliage. The tiny blossoms appear at the tip of the stems and are so small that little pollen is produced.

Orchids can add a real boost of color to your landscape. While the foliage is rather plain-Jane green in most species, the blossoms which produce little pollen are absolutely gorgeous regardless of the species grown. Once blossoms appear, they can stay stunning for several weeks and, with proper care, can bloom frequently. In warm climates, orchids can be grown embedded in sphagnum moss attached to a board or in a wire basket. They do well hanging underneath trees so that partial light is available but little direct sunlight. Orchids so have to be moved indoors in all but the most southern climate zones.

A gorgeous tree to plant in your landscape to add color is the red maple or Chinese maple. The breath-taking deep red star-like leaves are stunning and, when mature, this tree can produce a nice spot of shade for lounging beneath. Avoid trees which produce heavy pollen including pine, oak, elm, alder, birch, cottonwood, poplar, sweet gum, sycamore, citrus, and pecan.

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Publish Date: 05/05/2010 6:10

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