amitymamaThe Attachment Parenting Community

ksmama · 03-01-2004, 02:19 PM

There is a tree that I am wanting to plant flowers around in our front yard, but there are white tail deer out here and they apparently eat up everyone else's flowers. It is fully shaded also. Got any ideas of how to keep them away or which flowers they would steer clear of? TIA!
Katie

_Gentle_Spirit_ · 03-04-2004, 09:48 PM

Hi Katie~I did a search and came up with this list:
Bedding Plants Deer Won't Eat
Aloe (Zone 9)
Astilbe (Zone 2)
Bee Balm (Zone 2)
Blanket Flower (Zone 3)
Bleeding Heart (Zone 2)
California Fuchsia (Zone 6)
Candytuft (Zone 3)
Catnip (Zone 3)
Columbine (Zone 3)
Daffodil (Zone 4)
Dahlia (Zone 6)
Dead Nettle (Zone 4)
Floss Flower (Annual)
Forget-Me-Not (Annual)
Foxglove (Zone 4)
Gloriosa daisy (Zone 3)
Hyacinth (Zone 5)
Iris (Zone 3)
Lamb's Ears (Zone 5)
Lupine (Zone 4)
Oriental Poppy (Zone 2)
Pincushion Flower (Zone 3)
Purple Cornflower (Zone 4)
Red-hot Poker (Zone 5)
Tuberous Begonia (Zone 9)
Verbena (Zone 3)
Yarrow (Zone 3)

Shade Plants
Bedding Flowers
Astilbe (Zone 4)
Bleeding Heart (Zone 2)
Columbine (Zone 3)
Foxglove (Zone 4)
Hardy primrose (Zone 3)
Hosta (Zone 4)
Tuberous begonia (Annual)

Shrubs that Deer Won't Eat
Bottlebrush (Zone 9)
Boxwood (Zone 4)
Butterfly Bush (Zone 5)
Firethorn (Zone 6)
Flowering Quince (Zone 4)
Holly (Zone 4)
Juniper (Zone 3)
Lavender (Zone 5)
Lilac (Zone 3)
Viburnum (Zone 3)

You're looking for spring flowers that deer won't eat - not an easy task. When extremely hungry, deer will eat anything at all, including the following flowers. However, if other plants are available (in your neighbour's yard, for instance), the following flowers are the ones they will eat last, in other words, only if nothing else is available.
So, to foil those hungry deer, try some of the the following bulbs; :

1. Daffodils 2. Lilies of the valley
3. Dwarf Iris 4. Muscari
5. Snowdrops 6. Scillas

Keep in mind that if deer are hungry and there is not a lot of forage for them to eat, THEY WILL EAT YOUR LANDSCAPE-even the nasty-tasting plants! Drought is not the only factor that determines how much landscape will be eaten. Heavy populations of deer or rabbits will influence browsing. The more critters there are, the more food they need to eat!

Try incorporating rosemary, Mexican oregano, salvias, Myrtle Mints, Santolina or Copper Canyon Daisy into your landscape. All of these plants have an odor that helps protect them from not only deer but also rabbits.

Good luck. I hope this info is of some help to you in deciding what to plant.