Beware! Crabby Gardener!

I can't think of anything worse for a gardener than to have allergies. And allergies I have. I have some difficulty in the spring but can usually control them with Claritin and Flonase. The fall is a different story. And believe me, I've tried everything.

I blame the ragweed. Stupid ragweed! And the harvesting. I live in an agricultural area and harvest is always bad for me. Dust, I suppose and who knows what else. I know I'm not the only gardener to be afflicted with a severe ragweed allergy. Karen over at The Garden Plot is experiencing the same thing. I feel the tiniest bit better about that. Company is good, right? But still, to miss out on gardening...

For whatever reason, no allergy medicine takes care of my allergies enough to be outside. Where I want to be. Sort of. See, years of allergies have taken a toll and I've developed a conditioned response to being outside in the fall. My mind wants to be there but my body refuses to go. It's more a wistful longing than anything because I know better. 

I have been standing in my living room staring at this scene. I want to go check it out. I'm rather diggin' the Black-eyed Susans with the sedum. And I don't generally like Black-eyed Susans. There also seems to be some burgundy flowers that look nice. My son and I planted these seeds a year ago but they only decided to germinate this year. Everything back there is a surprise.

But the fact is, 5 minutes is my absolute outside limit for time in the garden after about August 15th. After that, my throat starts to swell and I get a weird low grade headache that makes me CRABBY. That's me with brick on my head there by the swing set. The strange thing is, the only symptom I really recognize is the crabby. And the tired. And the extreme desire to go take a nap. It's only later when I'm not crabby that I realize that it's my sinuses and throat that are giving me trouble. So as much as I want to go check this out, I know once I get out there, I'm going to want to weed (just because it's there, not because I love it) and then I'm going to get a headache and crabby and it will ruin the whole thing. My feet simply won't take me there. 

I mention this because for years my allergies and my aversion to the outdoors in September and beyond has made me feel like a bad gardener. A fickle, lazy, amateur, fake gardener. I always have high hopes every year that I'm going to absolutely overcome my allergies! It hasn't happened yet. 

As much as it bothers me, I think it's time to let myself off the hook. The fact is, I have allergies. I love gardening and being outside in the fall makes me absolutely miserable. Why would I want to ruin something that I love by making myself miserable? The easy answer is, I wouldn't.

So my garden will always fall into weedy naturalism every fall and I will mourn its decline starting in September. Come spring, I will be back again, in full force, allergies at a minimum and loving every minute of it. Until then, I will write, I will plan and maybe I will try this!

Do you have seasonal allergies? How does it affect your gardening and how do you cope with it?