Found them to be reliably deer resistant here - and we have deer galore! The leaves have a somewhat fuzzy texture and the plant itself has a scent that seems to repel them.

That seems to be one of the characteristics of plants that are somewhat or more or completely (if there is such a thing) deer "resistant" - those that have strong scents (geraniums, nepeta, Perovskia, poppies, artemesia, marigolds), fuzzy leaves like lambs ears, dusty miller, or short spikey needles like Spruce.

I know I'm mixing annuals and perennials a little, but in my gardening experience, I have never known deer to even nibble at snapdragons, summer dahlias, gladiolas, ferns, peonies, Veronica, zinnias, statice, dianthus, osteospermum, ornamental grasses, or the verbena hybrids.

They may be deer resistant, but someone has eaten my geraniums in the past. Groundhog, rabbit? I didn't see it happen, just saw the remains. All my geraniums were safe last year, fortunately, because I had a lot of them!

I'll second duluthinbloom's list; those are the plants I have most of in my garden because no animals seem to care about them.

I've never had a rabbit even nibble at a geranium (or pelargonium), and our neighborhood is Rabbit Central. This photo might as well have been taken at one of our backyard barbecues:

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After reading that our deer would not bother geraniums we planted two containers of them on our front porch. Our deer say, "Thank you very much for tricking the dumb guy into planting geraniums where we can eat them. They were GREAT. Thanks again"

Today the pots with what is left of the geraniums will move to the fenced back yard.

I had a buck Deer walk up the stairs unto my deck one early morning and ate all of my geraniums!!! can you believe.. so I would not put it past them. They apparently love them. I am not sure about scented geranium, which has little pink flowers... hmmm...

My mother's red geraniums got chewed on once this summer. A bunch of the blossoms got eaten, but then they haven't been touched since. We have no idea what animal might have eaten them.

I live in northwest Illinois. I have grown geraniums for years. Last year I spent more than my whole gardening budget replanting geraniums which disappeared whole from my garden. Speaking to my garden center owner, he said that the only animal he could think of who would do that is the deer. I am hesitant to put any in the ground this year. Those in pots or other containers were not bothered.

Geraniums aren't my resident deer's favorites but they will eat them once they've consumed all my impatiens, daylilies and hosta. I've found fawns are especially willing to try things that adult deer don't normally eat.

My niece just went nuts because something ate her gorgeous geranium planter. Didn't see it happen but she has lots of deer. I was sad to hear that Persian shield aren't safe as I bought 26 plants this year. I've sprayed in the past but got excited when I read they might not like them.

I don't think the Bambi clan has any plant they won't touch. I swear by milorganite. I have a bed of hostas that they will not touch. I just dump shovel full in the bed once or twice during the growing season. This works really well in beds but I wouldn't use too close to the house as it does have an unpleasant smell. The other bonus though is that it an awesome fertilizer. My roses, hydrangeas, hostas, and annuals love this stuff.

Yes!!! And another flowering plant. I'm so pissed. Someone suggests soaking clothes in vinegar and tie them to stakes. Does anyone know if that really works.

The deer ate my gladiolus

I got news for anyone reading this or other articles about "so-called" deer resistant plants. Deer most certainly WILL eat Persian Shield. It's not rabbits, it's deer, I have pulled up in my car late at night, and caught them in the act. Interesting to note, they have NEVER touched any of the several types of Coleus I've had over many years of planting.

forgot.. add Petunias to the list as well. They munched almost every flower from a hanging pot just last night.

UPDATE! YES they did eat some Coleus last night for the first time ever! I'll be waiting with a pellet rifle tonight. Deer are not smart animals to put it nicely, but thy'll remember a sting on their back hide.

The best thing I have found to keep deer from eating my flowers, so far, is spraying them with a product called "Deer Out" from my local garden center-not the big box stores. It's a natural product made up of peppermint and garlic oil, white pepper and peutrescents (whole eggs). It does smell bad, not horrific, when you are spraying it on but surprisingly you can't smell it in the garden once it dries. I do reapply if we have had a heavy period of rain . It may not be the most practical if you have an especially big garden but it's the only thing I have found that works so far.

used it for several years now.