While spring and fall allergies cause the same symptoms (sneezing, itchy eyes, and runny nose), their triggers are different.
Spring allergies, which run from February to late July, are brought on by pollen from trees, grasses, and weeds. Fall allergies go from mid-August through the first autumn frost, and are chiefly set off by pollen from the ragweed plant, mold, and dust mites.
Worst Plants for Allergies
You can expect more plant pollen and seasonal allergies if you put any of these plants in your yard.
Flowers/herbs
Amaranth (pigweed), chamomile, chrysanthemums, daisies, goldenrod, ordinary sunflowers.
Shrubs/vines
Cypress, jasmine vine, juniper, wisteria.
Trees
Alder, ash (male), aspen (male), beech, birch, box elder (male), cedar (male), cottonwood (male), elm, hickory, red and silver maples (male), mulberry (male), oak, olive, palm (male), pecan, pine, poplar (male), sycamore, walnut, willow (male).
Grasses
Bermuda, fescue, Johnson, June, orchard, perennial rye, redtop, salt grass, sweet vernal, timothy.
Weeds
Cocklebur, ragweed, Russian thistle, sagebrush.
Best Plants for Allergies
You'll have fewer plant pollen worries with these plants that produce little to no airborne pollen. So you can enjoy working with them and watching them grow.
Flowers
Begonia, cactus, chenille, clematis, columbine, crocus, daffodil, dusty miller, geranium, hosta, impatiens, iris, lily, pansy, periwinkle, petunia, phlox, rose, salvia, snapdragon, thrift, tulip, verbena, zinnia.
Hypoallergenic sunflower seeds
All these grow 5 to 6 feet tall -- and the pollen is too heavy to be spread easily.
Apricot Twist (apricot with gold center), Infrared Mix (dark crimson, ruby, golden-reds), The Joker (showy red-and-yellow double blooms), Pro-Cut Bicolor (stunning mahogany and yellow with black centers).
Shrubs
Azalea, boxwood (if clipped often), hibiscus, hydrangea, viburnum.
Trees
Apple, cherry, Chinese fan palm (female), fern pine (female), dogwood, English holly (female), Bradford pear, crepe myrtle, hardy rubber tree, magnolia, pear, plum, red maple (female).
Grasses
St. Augustine.
