If you work tirelessly to make your beautiful garden grow only to see the results of your labors disappear when deer start feasting on your flowers and shrubs? Deer are browsers. They look at your yard as a buffet: take a bite here, a nibble there and a whole garden somewhere else. As anyone who lives in an area with deer knows, they will eat pretty much anything and can cause real destruction in the garden.
However, our doe-eyed friends tend to shy away from plants that feature such unpalatable characteristics as bitter flavor, thorny stems, strong scent or unappealing texture.For example, deer find the fuzzy leaves of the perennial lamb’s ears (Stachys byzantina), unappetizing and generally will walk away from a dinner of perennial herbs. And marigolds usually won’t make the deer’s menu due to the annual’s strong scent. Of course, a big exception to this rule are roses. Deer don’t seem to mind navigating thorns to get their fill of their strongly scented blooms.
Unfortunately, the lists of deer resistant plants haven’t been well distributed among the deer herds. You’ll notice that all the lists say resistant, not deer proof. That’s because there really isn’t such a thing as a deer proof plant. There are varieties that deer don’t like quite as much, but it doesn’t mean that they won’t take a bite now and again.
When natural food is scarce — such as during a drought or early in the growing season — deer may be more tempted than usual to make a meal out of your garden. But these deer-resistant flowering plants, placed along with other plantings, can add beauty and a bit of protection to your beloved beds. Here’s a list of almost two dozen good ones to try.
Marigold
All varieties of marigolds are a turnoff for deer because of their strong, pungent scent. However, signet marigolds have a lighter citrusy smell and flavor, making them popular for culinary use.
Foxglove
The colorful bell shaped flower with freckles on the inside is lovely addition to deer-resistant gardens. This plant earns its deer-resistant label because it’s poisonous to deer (and humans). Many foxgloves are a biennial, so flowers don’t show up until the second year in the ground. Newer hybrid varieties are perennial, though. They are self-sowers, so if you leave the stalks in, they will continue to bloom year after year.
Salvia
Deer are resistant to Salvia plants because they stink; well, deer think they stink. Generally, deer stay away from aromatic herbs and other plants like Rosemary, Lavender, Salvia, etc. However, if they do decide to take a bite of your plant, it is typically the flowers and not the foliage. Salvia is most known for its long spires of fragrant purple flowers and adds a unique touch to any garden it’s in.
Lavender
Whether you want them for aesthetic purposes or their utility in the home, Lavender’s potent fragrance is the exact reason why deer avoid this plant altogether. Plant your Lavender in with your vegetable and herb garden, or plant them along walkways or driveways or for edging patios or gazebos. Not only are they deer-resistant, but they are also mosquito and fly repellant. Try to plant your perennial in full sun and well-draining soil conditions. Once established, Lavender is a very low-maintenance plant.
Rosemary
Rosemary is an herb that makes a beautiful ornamental plant as well as a welcome culinary seasoning. It is most closely associated with Mediterranean cuisine. It is easy to grow; in fact, rosemary can suffer from too much attention.
Mint
Like lavender, mint has a powerful natural scent that overwhelms other smells. It isn’t that deer don’t like the smell; it’s because if there’s mint present, they can’t smell anything else. They will usually avoid any area that has a high concentration of mint, so it’s actually a good option to plant some mint in any part of your garden you’d like to keep deer-free. Just be aware that mint can take over, so you have to be diligent in keeping it under control.
Crape Myrtle
Deer do not typically eat this flowering plant, so it is an excellent option to include in your yard if you have a large deer population. Crape Myrtle is deciduous, so when this plant drops its foliage and flowers it is about the same time food becomes more scarce. Crape Myrtle’s natural cycle of shedding its foliage is likely a big part of protecting it from deer.
Bleeding Heart
Known as a classic cottage staple, bleeding heart has a sap that deer find disagreeable. Beautiful blooms develop quickly in late spring and will last throughout summer and foliage stays lovely into fall. It’s easy to see why their floral pendants, in shades of rose pink and white, will pack a punch.
Black-Eyed Susan
Named for their dark brown centers peeking out of the gold or bronze petals, black-eyed susans thrive in the sun. Because its covered in course hair, deer and rabbits stay far away from it. These daisy-like blooms are perfect for a late summer or fall bouquet. They tend to grow to about 2 feet tall and handle high heat and drought conditions well.
Heliotrope
Heliotrope has a sweet, pungent scent that some liken to the smell of cherry pie.Some deer resistant annual flowers serve up leaves with a bristly texture that delivers a nasty texture to a hungry deer mouth. Heliotrope, with its richly perfumed blooms, has a hairy, almost sandpapery leaf that deer don’t usually nibble.
Heather
When heathers are planted in giant swathes that they really look breathtaking. Flowers appear at different times of the year depending on the species, so it is possible to get flowers for most of the year if different types are planted.
Yucca
This flowering plant is not a favorite item on the deer menu: its sharp, spiky fronds tend to keep deer from munching in many — though not all — cases. Prickly agave can also keep deer from making your yard an all-you-can-eat buffet.
Zinnia
Zinnias come in a wide variety of colors with large, profuse blooms. They are truly an easy-to-grow annual flower. This bright and beautiful summer annual has a strong odor that keeps the deer away, and Zinnia’s thick leaf texture makes it challenging for deer to eat.
Brunnera
Brunnera is a deer-resistant shade plant with heart-shaped leaves and sky-blue flowers in the spring. The “white” in the name refers to the leaf edges. Deer may avoid brunnera, also known as Siberian bugloss, because of it’s scratchy leaves. Some say the foliage has the texture of sandpaper.
Yarrow
Yarrow is a vibrant yellow perennial with fuzzy foliage that deers hate. It has a lengthy flowering time from June through September. It is a relatively tall flower with an average growth height of 2.5-3 feet.
Sea Holly
Eryngium x tripartitum, or sea holly, has blue-green stems with masses of small metallic blue flower heads on tall four-foot stems Sea holly is considered to be both rabbit- and deer-resistant because of its sharp spikes on the foliage and strongly scented blooms. However, Sea holly is a delight to butterflies and flower arrangers alike and is a tough plant that is very tolerant of drought.
Verbena
Deer-resistant plants often feature a texture or smell the animals try to avoid. Verbena plants produce clusters of rich, vibrant-colored flowers in a spreading habit throughout the entire summer. Verbenas come in blue, pink, lavender, dark red, yellow, white, and bi-colors. These flowering perennials look beautiful in rock gardens but especially great in window boxes or containers.
Sweet Woodruff
This shade-friendly groundcover with fragrant white flowers is sweet but not sweet for deer. Deer don’t like sweet woodruff (Galium odorata) because its leaves contain coumarin, which gives it a scent similar to freshly mown hay. Deer have sensitive tongues and generally dislike plants with hairy, spiky, or fuzzy leaves. In general, deer like tender young leaves, buds, and nutrient-rich vegetation.
Catmint
An excellent companion bloom, versatile catmint gets along famously with its neighbors. Catmint complements almost any garden style, whether you’ve got a formal parterre with hybrid tea roses or a wild swath of prairie perennials. It starts blooming lavender blue late in spring and keeps going till frost — and the foliage smells heavenly when you brush past it. It is that scent that is offensive to a deer’s sensitive nose.
Lamb’s Ear
Out of most deer-resistant Perennials, it is easy to see why deer would not want to eat spiky foliage plants like Lamb’s Ear (Stachys byzantina ‘Big Ears’). This plant produces fuzzy, large, silver-leafed foliage. The edges of the leaves are pokey, making it hard for deer to get their mouths anywhere near these plants. This extremely drought tolerant plant works in a rock garden and makes an attractive edging for beds.
Lily of the Valley
Lily of the Valley is an old-fashioned perennial that looks so delicate with its tiny bell-shaped flowers. It will grow in the deep shade of large trees and shrubs and makes a good choice for small, contained spaces.Deer don’t usually eat the leaves and flowers of this delicate plant because the bulbs contain a toxin (and rodents also find it distasteful).
Bee Balm
This beautiful perennial attracts hummingbirds and butterflies but not deer. Bee balm repels deer with its minty scent, but pollinators can’t get enough. Bee Balm blooms in violet blue, red, pink or white from July through August and grows relatively tall, 2-3 feet.
Daffodils
Plant daffodils in your garden and you will let the deer know the buffet is closed in your yard. Only members of the Amaryllis family, which includes daffodils, snowflakes, and snowdrops, are truly deer and rodent proof. They contain a bitter, poisonous substance called lycorine that no mammal will eat.
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