What's in season right now

The pollen year never fully stops — it just moves. Here's the national calendar, month by month; your month is highlighted. For dates specific to where you live, jump to your state's page.

1. January

   The quietest month almost everywhere — except Central Texas, where mountain cedar peaks mid-month (cedar fever at full strength), and Florida, where cypress, red cedar, and the first live oak are already moving.

2. February

   Cedar fever runs on in Texas. The South's early trees — elm, maple, red cedar — open across the Gulf states, juniper starts in the deserts and southern Plains, and alder wakes up in the Pacific Northwest.

3. March

   Spring proper: oak and pine light up the Southeast, maple and elm spread through the Midwest, birch begins in the Mid-Atlantic, and mulberry hits the desert cities. Texas trades cedar for oak.

4. April

   The biggest tree month of the year. Oak and birch peak across the eastern half of the country, pecan starts in the South, and the Southeast's first grass is already stirring.

5. May

   Tree season finishes in the North — birch, oak, then pine — while grass season begins nearly everywhere. In the South, warm-season grass is already at full strength.

6. June

   Grass, grass, grass: the cool-season peak across the North, warm-season grasses rolling through the South. The last pine finishes up north.

7. July

   Northern grass season winds down by mid-month; southern grass keeps going. The pollen year's one real breather is late July — enjoy it, because ragweed is next.

8. August

   Ragweed begins: around the first of the month along the Gulf, mid-month across the North. Warm-season grass is still active in the South.

9. September

   Ragweed's peak month almost everywhere in the country. Cedar elm gives Texas a second tree season. Northern grass is done; southern grass hangs on.

10. October

    Ragweed rides out to the first frost — done by mid-month in the far north, still going strong in the South. Each freeze line that sweeps south switches another region off.

11. November

    Frost closes out ragweed through the Mid-South and Mid-Atlantic. Along the Gulf and in the Southwest's mildest cities, the season is still fading rather than finished.

12. December

    The year turns over: ragweed finally quits along the Gulf as frost arrives — and in the Hill Country, mountain cedar opens the next pollen year in the same breath. Florida's cypress follows before New Year's.