Finding a balance

This book excerpt from “The Allergy-Fighting Garden” by Thomas Leo Ogren was reprinted with permission.

Pollinator plants, bees and butterflies

The aim of an allergy-fighting garden is not to eliminate all pollen, but to strongly limit the amount of the most allergenic pollen. Most trees and shrubs in our yards and schools (but not necessarily all) should ideally be very low-pollen plants, or better yet, pollen-free female plants. We often don’t need to be quite as careful with our smaller plants, the annuals and perennials, and actually it is beneficial on several levels to use many that are strictly insect-pollinated. It is good for our immune systems to be exposed to some pollen; this makes our bodies stronger. What isn’t good is when we are overexposed to massive amounts of pollen.

Honeybees worldwide are in decline, but in urban areas that are rich in garden flowers, they’re often thriving. In my own gardens, I always include flowering plants that attract and feed honeybees, bumblebees, butterflies, and other important pollinators; my many fruit trees always get well pollinated. There are dozens of allergy friendly plants that attract pollinators without causing allergies. Some of these make small amounts of large, sticky, not very allergenic pollen, and many others (especially among the mints, the mint relatives, and the salvias) are often pollen-free female plants. Female flowers make no pollen, but they almost always have very rich sources of nectar; female plants often use nectar to attract pollinators. I have long noticed that many all-female selections actually will outdraw pollinators. Attracting these creatures to your own garden will help the world, and it is just plain fun to see them working the flowers. Then, too, who doesn’t appreciate seeing butterflies floating around in the garden?
 

A few of my favorite low-allergy, excellent pollinator plants:

There are more than 250 species of Cuphea and all of them will attract pollinators, including hummingbirds.

Linaria canadensis is an easy-to-grow, short-lived perennial with cute little blue, purple or white flowers. In my yard, Linaria draws honey bees, native bees, bumblebees and all manner of small (especially gray and blue) butterflies.

Red apple iceplant, Aptenia cordata, is only hardy to zone 8, but it would be worth growing as an annual ground cover in colder climates. Aptenia is a total honeybee magnet, produces no airborne pollen, and is super easy to root from cuttings. Aptenia will probably also winter over as a houseplant in colder zones.

Salvia nemorosa is an attractive, small, easy-to-grow, winter-hardy perennial with nice purple flower spikes; it produces no pollen but lots of nectar, and it draws pollinators like crazy.

Nepeta nervosa, catmint, is another small, hardy, easy-to-grow perennial. It has fine little blue or white flowers and leaves with a wonderful minty smell. Nepeta is another total pollinator magnet in my garden and is almost never without some visitors.

Asclepias species, the milkweeds; almost every garden should have a few of these beauties. There are hundreds of different milkweed species and all of them have merit. If possible, grow some that are native to your own area.

Monarch butterflies are totally dependent on milkweed plants; they can lay and rear their young on no other species of plant. Milkweeds produce a white latex sap that is an irritant to the skin, and they’re toxic to dogs, so keep these away from pets.

Russian sage, Perovskia atriplicifolia, is a hardy, tough perennial with small gray leaves, tolerant of all kinds of soils, and quite drought-resistant. In my garden, it is a total honeybee magnet and also draws in small butterflies.

With very low amounts of pollen but high amounts of nectar, Russian sage is a great addition to any allergy friendly pollinator garden.

About the Book
“The Al lergy-Fighting Garden” by Thomas Leo Ogren. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Penguin Random House, Inc., 2015
Available through Penguin Random House at penguinrandomhouse.com