If You Have Allergies, You Can Still Have Lilies

If you have allergies, there is a good chance you have an immediate allergic reaction when you are around Lilies.  Lilies have large oversized blooms with large deposits of pollen.  Pollen serves an important purpose in the reproduction of flowers, but it is the sworn enemy of allergy sufferers everywhere.

The NAB, National Allergy Board has pollen and mold counting stations across the country to continuously monitor these indexes for allergy sufferers.  The pollen index will generally increase in the springtime when the flowers bloom and decrease in the winter, when many plants go dormant.  Of course this varies for different regions.  You can check your local pollen index on their website.  NAB Pollen and Mold Index  Most local weather forecasts now include a pollen index for allergy sufferers. 

But before you say goodbye to lilies, here's a simple trick that allows you to experience the beauty of these flowers without all of the sneezing.  The size of these lovely blooms can be used to the advantage of allergy sufferers.  The pollen is easy to see and easy to remove from these blooms.  In the photo of the white lilies below.  The yellow pods in the center of the bloom house all of the pollen.

  The white pod does not contain pollen.  Take a wet napkin and carefully slide off the yellow pods.  Pollen will rub off on anything it touches and it stains clothing so be careful.  My cat once had a red forehead for a week after sniffing a tiger lily too closely.  The pollen will slide off easily and once it is removed these beautiful blossoms are allergy safe.  Below you can see the same lilies after the pollen has been safely removed.