If you have to battle with the deer to keep them off of your property, consider choosing from this list of plants that are rarely damaged by deer. Keep in mind that if they are starving, they will eat almost anything, but these plants are usually the last to be chosen.
ANNUALS Ageratum, Snapdragon, Angel’s Trumpet, Pot Marigold, Annual Vinca, Dusty Miller, Cleome, Strawflower, Heliotrope, Sweet Alyssum, Rosemary
BIENNIALS
Foxglove
BULBS
Allium, Crocus, Winter Aconite, Fritillaria, Snowdrops, Daffodil and Siberian Squill
FERNS
Japanese painted fern, Hayscented Fern, Wood Fern, Ostrich Fern, Sensitive Fern, Cinnamon Fern, Royal Fern, Christmas Fern
GROUNDCOVERS
Bishop’s Weed, Ajuga, Bearberry, Lily of the Valley, Epimedium, Sweet Woodruff, Lamium, Pachysandra
ORNAMENTAL GRASSES
Sweet flag, Big bluestem, Feather reed grass, Carex, Northern sea oats, Ravenna grass, Blue fescue, Hakonechloa, Blue oat grass, Juncus, Miscanthus, Panicum, Pennisetum, Little bluestem, Indian grass
PERENNIALS
Aconitum, Agastache, Allium, Jack-in-the-pulpit, Tarragon, Artemisia, Wild ginger, European ginger, Baptisia, Brunnera, Coreopsis, Bleeding Heart, Euphorbia, Hellebore, Ligularia, Iris, Lavender, Lemon Balm, Mint, Catmint, Oregano, Peony, Russian Sage, May apple, Pulmonaria, Sage, Lamb’s Ear, Thalictrum, Thyme, Yucca
SHRUBS
Barberry, Butterfly bush, Boxwood, Heather, Caryopteris, Japanese plum yew, Juniper, Mahonia, Microbiota, Bayberry, Pieris, Potentilla, Fragrant sumac, Red elderberry, Arrowwood Viburnum
TREES
Bottlebrush Buckeye, Pawpaw, River Birch, Paper Birch, Katsura Tree, American Holly, Dwarf Alberta Spruce, Red pine, Japanese Black Pine
VINES
American Bittersweet, Wisteria