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Email Story to a Friend June 1, 2006 If you have allergies, pick plants carefully All those beautiful, blooming springtime shrubs and trees are playing havoc with gardeners' heads. If you're an allergy-sufferer, here are a few tips for sneeze-proofing your garden. You can't avoid pollen that drifts in from your neighbors' gardens, of course, but you can at least cut down on the amount and variety of allergenic plants in your own yard. Garden plants with sticky pollen that doesn't drift too far, such as roses and many fruit trees, and also plants that have pollen that's too large to affect our airways, such as pine, are best for allergy sufferers. Other good choices are plants with tubular flowers that are pollinated by hummingbirds and insects rather than by the wind. This includes many herb flowers as well as ornamental salvias and Asclepias. Here are some of the worst allergenics to avoid: juniper ground covers and shrubs; lawns of Kentucky bluegrass, perennial rye, red top, timothy and velvet grass substitute with turf-type tall fescues; arborvitae, ceanothus, elderberry and privet shrubs. Among the trees, avoid alder, ash, birch, cottonwood, elm, hazelnut, linden, maple, boxelder, oak good luck avoiding that one!, poplar, sweetgum, sycamore, walnut and willow trees. Too bad. These are some very nice trees, but worth avoiding if they make you sick. Advertisement On the other hand, there are several plants that may aid your health when grown indoors. In a modest-sized house like mine you can't get carried away with houseplants. There just isn't enough room. But I won't live in a home without a few live green things keeping me company. My current inventory goes something like this: one thin asparagus fern wrongly placed in a north window instead of south where it would get the light it needs; one adolescent spider plant, the offspring of a huge parent plant that packed up and moved out a few months ago; one glorious African Creeper loving the darkness. There's also a bay plant and lemon verbena waiting out the winter until they can move outdoors again; a hoya holding its own; a cactus dish garden, an aloe and a giant jade plant all doing fine in their usual southwest corner; and some scented geranium cuttings growing new roots. Live houseplants bring a feeling of nature indoors, which alone makes people feel better. And scientists confirm that houseplants improve the indoor environment in practical ways, too. They remove air pollution, clearing the air of chemical fumes and toxins, including carbon monoxide, benzene and formaldehyde, all of which are by-products of modern manufacturing. Research shows that some common houseplants — spider plants, English ivy, potted mums and golden pothos, for instance — remove nearly 100 percent of harmful gases from sealed chambers over a 24-hour period. Keep houseplants looking good by grooming them. Pinch off yellowed or brown leaves and give plants a bath to remove dust. You can stick them under tepid water in a shower, or wipe leaves individually with a soft, damp cloth. Inspect plants for pests like spider mites, who party hearty in the hot, dry conditions of most heated homes. To keep houseplants healthy all year long, collect rainwater for watering. It's free of mineral salts, which build up in the soil, and other chemicals that stress plants. Sams Valley gardener Joyce Schillen is author of "The Growing Season," a book on organic gardening. Her e-mail address is [email protected]. Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker Custom Build Computers Discount Hotel Reservations --> online casinos news Ashley Furniture HomeStore Send Flowers California Casinos GMAT Prep Windermere Van Vleet Sports Equipment Online Casino Reviews Entertainment Guide --> Online Casino Fundraisers Sudoku Online Casinos Canada Online Pharmacy Advertisement s Advertisement