Deer

Deer in Victoria pretty much decide what we can grow successfully.   Unless we have areas the deer cannot access, they will eat almost all our favourite plants, like roses, tulips and lettuce, usually just as it is growing new leaves or flower buds.

A fine plastic mesh, used coffee grounds, meat meal / meat meal mixed with water in a jar, or anti-deer spray may help deter deer from individual plants.

Here is a list of plants I've noticed they tend to leave alone.  The list might differ depending on where you live.

• Achillia, or yarrow, which comes in differently coloured flowers, white, pink, orange, and does well in dry sunny situations.
• Aegopodium podagraria gout or bishop's weed - an aggressive spreader!
• Ajuga, or bugle weed is a very short ground cover.
• Alchemilla, or lady's mantle, gathers dew drops in it's leaves.
• Alium, decorative onions.
• Alysum both sweet alysum and the perenial rock plant with grey leaves and yellow flowers, which also goes by Aurinia.
• Antirrhinum, or snapdragons, offer long lasting and diverse colours.
• Arundo, is an ornamental grass.  The varigated variety looks bright.
• Aubrietia, a rock plant that brings a POW! of early spring colour.
• Azaleas.
• Bamboo, except not the new shoots.
• Begonias.
• Bellis perennis, those little English daisies that grow in lawns.
• Borago officinalis, Borage, which has edible, light blue, star-shaped flowers.
• Brunnera, a varigated perennial with flowers similar to forget-me-nots.
• Buxus, or boxwood is fun to trim into neat little border hedges.
• Campanula or bellflower or Canterbury bells or harebells have tall stalks of big, blue bell shaped flowers.
• Calendula, so named because these hardy, fresh green plants bear orange and yellow flowers in every calendar month - and readily self-seed.
• Ceanothus or California lilac, an evergreen bush that may grow large and sports blue flowers.
• Chaenomeles, flowering quince.
• Choisya ternata, or Mexican mock orange, is a shiny, lime green bush with a particular aroma.
• Cistus, or rock rose, withstands salt spray and winter wind.
• Cimicifuga simplex or bugbane - Lynn Rusch in Minnesota, where there are many deer in the garden as well, suggests leaving the stalks standing with this perennial for added winter interest.
• Convallaria, or lilly-of-the-valley is fragrant and a low, growing spreader for part shade.
• Convovulus or morning glory is a beautiful flower, but a terrible weed.
• Corydalis, adelicate little woodland plant.
• Cyclamen, has ornamental leaves and flowers at different times, a relitively slow spreader.
• Daisies such as the clumping dog daisies and the self seeding field daisies.
• Delphiniums, have tall spikes of colourful flowers.
• Dicentra, or bleeding heart.
• Digitalis or foxglove is an easy to grow and transplant biennial.  It's tall spires make a great background or add interest in an English style garden bed.
• Dodecatheon, our native Shooting Star spring flower.
• Erythronium, native easter lillies, toad lillies, glacier lillies, or fawn lillies.
• Euphorbia, some species are invasive, all contain toxic, white plant juice.
• Ferns, like sword fern, licorice fern etc,
• Foeniculum vulgare or fennel, which mustn't be allowed to go to seed because it spreads.
• Fuschia, although young deer may nibble those with larger blossoms, the hardy fuschias are left alone.
• Galanthus or snow drops.
• Galium, or woodruff is a fresh looking, slow spreading ground cover.
• Gaultheria shallon, our native Salal, is an evergreen perennial.
• Gentiana lutea, has tall, thick stalks with balls of flowers that turn into attractive seed heads.
• Gunnera, a plant that dies to the ground in winter, but regrows gigantic, spiky leaves.
• Heathers - Erica, Calluna, and Daboecia make superb evergreen and long lasting colour and texture, but must be pruned to maintain good shape.
• Hebes, are subtle, evergreen shrubs.
• Helichrysum italicum, or curry plant, is grey with yellow flowers and smells like curry!
• Helleborus or Hellebore or Christmas Rose - Martha Stewart loves these subtly coloured flowers.
• Humulus, or hops - WATCH OUT, they grow like crazy and are difficult to remove.
• Iberis or candy tuft.
• Impatiens, like sun or part sun and moist soil.
• Irises.
• Kalmia, a shrub that likes moist, peaty soil and part shade.
• Knipholia, or red hot poker looks like Yucca only with red and orange seeds.
• Kohlquitzia amabilis, beauty bush is a tall, yet drooping bush that flowers early in May.
• Lathyrus maritimus/japonicus, or beach peas, the more robust, perennial and exclusively pink ornamental pea.
• Lavatera, although deer like other perennial malvas, they might leave these pretty pink flowering shrubs alone.
• Lavendula or lavender - bees love the flowers and you can dry the buds just before opening when the scent is strongest.
• Lithodora is a low, spreading, summer blooming perennial with dark green leaves and deep blue flowers.
• Lobularia maritima, or sweet alyssum, is an aromatic, self seeding little annual that may overwinter.
• Lomatium utriculatum, otherwise know as spring gold - a native plant to the Garry Oak ecosystem.
• Lonicera nitida, is a shrub with an unkept look if not trimmed often.
• Lychnis, or rose campion, a droubt tolerant plant with grey leaves and hot pink or white flowers.
• Lysimachia punctata or garden loosestrife has late season yellow flowers - now on invasive list.
• Mahonia or Oregon grape has shiny, spiky leaves that may turn red in the fall.  There are two common kinds: tall oregon grape, which attracts hummingbirds in winter with it's blooms, and short oregon grape.
• Myosotis  sylvatica or Forget-Me-Not is a light blue flowered, self seeding annual.
• Narcissus or daffodils, poeticus etc.
• Nerine mostly fall blooming pink bulbs, with foliage growing in different season from flowers.
• Origanum vulgare or wild marjoram, also used as culinary herb, and bees love the flowers.
• Osteospermum, or one of the plants known as an African daisy not usually winter hardy.
• Paeonia or peony - rumor has it that ants help the flowers open.
• Papaver - poppies.
• Perovskia or Russian sage is a grey leaved perennial with spikes of many little light purple flowers, which the bees love!
• Pieris japonica, both dwarf and regular varieties look quite structural with year- round interest.
• Pinus, or pines, such as the small bushy mugo pine, and the tall trees.  As with any small tree, vulnerable to damag by male deer rubbing the velvet off their antlers.
• Potentilla fruiticosa is a landscaping shrub with long lasting blooms.
• Rhododendrons - occasionally buds are eaten.
• Romnea or fried egg plant or tree poppy is a tall, large flowered, summer blooming perennial.
• Rosemarinus, or rosemary, blooms in winter.
• Salvia or edible sage, and some of the ornamental species too, like hot lips.
• Sarcococca is an evergreen shrub with fragrant winter flowers.
• Sedum or stonecrop, such as our native S. spathulifolium, whose leaves have a dusting of grey powder.
• Sempervivum, such as Hens 'n Chicks.
• Senecio, such as Dusty Millar.
• Skimmia japonica, is a shade loving, evergreen shrub with fragrant, early spring flowers followed by bonnie red berries.
• Solidago canadensis,  or tall Golden Rod blooms later in the season, feeds bees, and is a local native plant.
• Stachys, or bunny ears, has fuzzy grey leaves.
• Tanacetum parthenium/Chrysanthemum parthenium/Pyrethrum parthenium or Feverfew is that bonny self-seeder with chartreuse leaves and profuse daisy-like flowers.
• Thymus, the beautiful and useful thymes, good for cooking, flowers (bees love), evergreen foliage.
• Tiarella, Heucherella, and Heuchera have lovely little white flowers on delicate stalks if your deer miss them.
• Trillium, a native woodland flower with three petals.
• Verbena bonariensis, an inconspicuous, self seeding perennial with tall, stiff stems upholding purple flower heads.
• Yucca, need full sun, well drained soil, and protection from cold winters.

Please let me know your experience with the deer, if they eat these plants or if you know of some others they don't.