Particle blending

Hi
I am trying to blend the particles of my newly code particle engnine together.
I am having problems what blending mode to use.

The proposed in the red Book blending mode glBlendFunc(GL_SRC_ALPHA,GL_ONE_MINUS_SRC_ALPHA), blend the particles together but does not produce any glow.
Whereas using glBlendFunc (GL_ONE, GL_ONE); blends the particles together nicely and the show up like they are glowing, but the particle color changes on different backgrounds.
If say the particles are yellow and the background blue, they come up as white.

Is ther a better way to blend particles without having the background color screw everything up?

Thanks
Dimi