Many people suffer from allergic reactions to a wide variety of items they come into contact with. From the humble peanut to the usually harmless tulip, reactions can range from mild to severe. In fact, being in the business of flowers means you’ll inevitably comes across a customer or two with allergies to your products. Well, when Hana Florist POS is there, you’re bound to find a solution or two for every problem you come across. Here in this article, we have discussed about flower allergies, its reasons, and remedies as well as alternatives. Keep reading.

While many people having flower allergy tend to avoid flowers altogether, there’s certainly no need to do so anymore. In fact, florists who educate themselves about flower allergy, its reasons and solutions, can guide their customers in a fail-proof way. So, when you see a customer the next time asking questions like ‘can you be allergic to roses’ or saying they are allergic to lilies, peonies, or sunflowers, you can suggest some great and safe alternative to them. Allergy to flower should not prevent anyone from enjoying their beauty!

Can you be allergic to flowers? What causes allergy to flower?

The main cause behind people reacting badly to a bouquet of beautiful begonias is the pollen that transfers airborne male seeds to fertilize female plants for reproduction. Depending on the type of plant, the size and coarseness of pollen grains will differ and cause allergic reactions of varying intensities in humans. This means that if you choose your arrangements carefully you’ll be able to minimize, or even completely eliminate, allergic reactions to your bouquets.

Florist advice for people who have flower allergy

Can cut flowers cause allergies? Yes, some of them can. Here are some low-pollen stems that will delight customers with flower allergy:

Pollen-Free Lilies:

Horticulturists have been cultivating special breeds of lilies that are 100% pollen-free for quite some time now. This is great news since lilies are favorites for many, but has a bad reputation for causing allergies. Fortunately, the technique to making lovely lilies pollen free has been mastered, which means you can order them from your nearest suppliers and offer to your customers as a great alternative to normal lilies.

Orchids:

The eloquent orchid poses a very low risk to allergies thanks to its sticky pollen sacks that house the male seeds. With orchid pollen being distributed primarily through feeding birds and insects, people don’t have to worry about catching it in the air as is the case with airborne pollen grains. Other popular bird and insect pollinated plants to keep on your list are peonies, hydrangeas and pangies.

Rose:

The beautiful rose is true to its reputation for its subtle and unobtrusive beauty. But do roses have pollen that results in allergies? Well, the world’s most romantic flower produces very small amounts of pollen across all the various colors and plant variations. This means little to no allergy-causing pollen around to ruin a beautiful arrangement of roses. If you’d like to further minimize the risk, use tight-budded varieties of roses that release even less pollen into the air.

Carnations:

Adult butterflies feed on the nectar that carnations produce. By going from one flower to the next, butterflies inadvertently ensure that the world has an abundant supply of these beautiful plants. Pollen is usually collected on the butterfly’s legs as it maneuvers itself to get to the sweet nectar housed within the carnation’s flowers.

Cactus:

They might sting you but they won’t cause you to break out in an uncontrollable sneeze attack. While the perpetual cactus may be a starkly different plant to most others, it also produces flowers for reproduction. However, these desert dwellers rely on insects and birds to distribute their seeds due to the typically low to no wind desert environments they inhabit.

Flowers to avoid from floral allergies

Can cut flowers cause allergies? What are the worst flowers for people with allergy? Here’s the answer.

Prime pollen propagators would be almost every plant in the Aster, or Daisy, family. People with high sensitivity to pollen typically have very bad reactions to plants of this species. Another seemingly innocuous plant is the Baby’s Breath which has deceptively small, yet pollen rich flowers that are easily airborne.

Florist Advice: Floral Allergies And How You Can Beat Them

Baby’s breath are very popular filler plants and are a big favorite for weddings and other events. If a customer insists on using them for an event, consider the double-flowered hybrids that hold surprisingly smaller amounts of pollen. Other no-go flowers for allergy prone people are sunflowers, goldenrods, chamomile blooms and dahlias.

What about fake flowers?

While many may disagree on the use of fake flowers for any type of arrangement, the synthetic variety can be a good way to include a certain type of flower in a mixed bouquet or wedding arrangement while circumventing the challenges that come with allergies. Our advice is to use them only as substitutes in situations where customer comfort is at risk never overuse them if not necessary.

In-store prevention of allergies

As you can see, making sure your arrangements don’t kick off a series of unpleasant reactions to them when customers leave your store with bouquet in hand is indeed very possible. However, things can get a little tricky in-store where you’ll undoubtedly have a wide variety of flowers, off cuts and pollen-rich material around you.

To prevent people from experiencing a nasty reaction while visiting your shop you could use an air purifier that will at least mitigate the effects of the overwhelming amount of pollen in the store. Who knows, you might even be allergic to certain flower types and find relief in having one in-store.

For more news, insights and developments in the floral industry and how you can give your flower shop the biggest shot at success, check back on our blog regularly.

Also Read: Amazing Flower Facts