Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Why male trees are bad news, and other crazy stuff


Here's something I didn't know:
"Dioecious" tree species bear male and female flowers on separate plants. Dioecious trees include ash, boxelder, cedar, cottonwood, juniper, mulberry, and yew. If you select a male plant you will have problems.
From an allergy perspective, the worst trees you can live around are dioecious males, which will bear only pollen and no fruit or seed. The best plants in your environment are dioecious females as they bear no pollen and are allergen-free.
Apparently, every damn tree in my neighborhood is a male. Oh the irony. Right now, it's the cottonwoods that are driving me nuts. And guess what! Our townhouse is surrounded by cottonwoods. I had no clue when we bought the place that cottonwood trees would become the bane of my existence. Not that it would have made a difference. But that isn't even the best part. Here's what the Allergy Relief Center says I should do:
Delegate house cleaning to others and leave the house when it is performed.
Yeah, I know. I'll bet I'm not the only one who wet my pants laughing when I read that.

My stole pattern knitting is coming along, slowly but surely. Here's a little peek:


I'm hoping to get some serious knitting time logged this weekend, since it looks like I'll be stuck indoors. The pattern will follow soon after, I promise, as long as I'm not looped on allergy meds. Or maybe even if I am loopy. Now THAT might be funny.

2 comments:

  1. Leave the house while it's being cleaned by others??? Guess I'm stuck at home, lol!!!

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  2. I didn't know there were male and female trees. Very interested. My son also suffers badly from allergies and has to stay inside in spring so I feel your pain. On the other hand . . . knitting time! And yeah - let someone else clean the house. hahahahahahahaha

    ReplyDelete

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