Tag: Pollen

Hay-fever and health.

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It’s been hot so I’ve got the back door open. But it’s dry and breezy and now my nose and eyes are streaming. I think I’ve let a lot of pollen in.

I’ve also just had the shingles vaccination this afternoon. I’ve had shingles in the past, and it’s not a nice illness to get. I was warned the injection might cause pain in my arm, and it has! It’s a real deep aching sharp pain! It may also cause flu like symptoms. Consequently I’m feeling very tired, achy, and not much like walking the short distance to shut the door!

Wish me luck. I am in no danger, just being a wuss!

Lilies

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Lilies in July

Consider the lilies…. Don’t plant them near the front of plant borders, the pollen is poisonous to cats. They can shed a lot of pollen which cats can breathe in or it can fall on them and they lick it off when they wash.

But if you can plant them safely they are beautiful and showy. But beware of lily beetles. They are big red shiny beetles that can munch and destroy lilies. I’m afraid they need removing and squashing if you want to save the plants.

Simple rose.

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Some flowers are very complex and can also be bred with double the petals, they look very pretty. But bees and pollenating insects can’t get at their nectar and pollen. A massive bloom could make it difficult for bees to feed and collect food for their grubs.

So try and choose bee friendly plants, they often are labelled to help you chose them. And look for simple flowers like this where the central flower parts, anthers, stamens etc are easily accessible by the insects you want to attract.

You can also build bee hotels for solitary bees from grasses and sticks and small lengths of hollow bamboo. If you look you can find designs on line to work to. Have fun and support your local bees! I was speaking to a beekeeper today. He said one honeybee only makes about a twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime!

One more for tonight

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A doodle based on the previous post about the environment. They say allergies are caused by being bought up in conditions that are too clean so the body does not learn how to react normally to its surroundings.

Feeling stressed

Thinking of nature

But suffering hay-fever!

Eyes water

When I try and commune

With the outside world

The pollen

So tiny

Can keep me trapped.

Sneezing

Enclosed

Removed from nature!

Hay-fever

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Today is dry and windy. I might go out later but the pollen count is very high. I’m allergic to grass pollen. It started when I was a child, I would wake up with ‘sleep in my eyes’ gunged up with mucus. Then I did a painting in situ in the school playing fields, I was drawing and painting a van dumped on the field. In the week it was there I sat and drew it most lunchtimes. By the end of that week I had full blown hay-fever! I think it was because the grass was really tall and was distributing pollen.

Nowadays there are much better antihistamines, eye drops and nasal sprays. Thank goodness, the situation without them would be horrible. I walked past a garden full of overgrown grass a few years ago and I could not breathe! Sneezing, running eyes, all of the symptoms. I had to buy hay-fever tablets straight away to calm it down.

Keep away from cats!

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DSC_2785

Lilies, and particularly their pollen are very dangerous to cats. We have moved ours away from paths in the garden so the cat cannot brush past them. I think it effects their kidneys and can cause serious health issues, possibly including death. We don’t normally grow many as they are usually killed by lily beetles. This year we were lucky? They are still lovely flowers, but I might reconsider planting them next year.