JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The recent warm stretch this month brought along an unwelcome guest: pollen.
You may have even noticed your car blanketed with a fresh coat this past week.
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Robert Sanford, who knows all about the pesky allergen as the nursery manager at Liberty Landscape Supply, told News4Jax that pine trees are producing the pollen right now.
“They’ve just started and they’ll do it for about six weeks and that’s what’s all over the cars right now," Sanford said Monday.
Pollen season usually doesn’t arrive until February, so now more people who suffer from allergies will suffer even longer.
“The pines are the worst. I never had allergies until I turned 60 years old," Sanford said. "They’re terrible and I’m itching my eyes all the time and that’s one of the things about the pollen.”
So while pine trees are currently producing pollen, next on the list are cedar trees, which will produce pollen up until spring.
But now, the Weather Authority has been forecasting a current cold snap, with a threat of overnight freezes. So it’s important to cover up and protect those plants with buds on them.
“Mainly the citrus trees have started blooming and, if we have a freeze, it will knock all the flowers off," Sanford said.
The bad news: Trees normally produce pollen through April, so this is just the beginning. After cedar and pine trees, the hot summer months bring grass pollen.