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Will deer eat vinca (the annual flower, not groundcover)

14 years ago

Having lost impatiens to deer, we're thinking of substituting vinca flowers instead. These are not the purple vining groundcover, rather, the annual flowers as shown in the link below.

Will deer eat them? I tried googling and all the vinca references are about the purple groundcover (which deer don't like).

TIA

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:9097}}

Featured Answer

ginny12

14 years ago

Your mother's grave--makes it all the sadder when plants are destroyed. I have had good luck with Liquid Fence sprayed on impatiens a week apart the first two times and then once a month. Maybe that would work for you.

Hope you find a solution. Your mother was lucky to have such a thoughtful child.

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Comments (11)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
14 years ago
link doesnt work ...

deer will eat anything if they have no other options ...

best i can tell you.. is give it a try

ken
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ginny12
14 years ago
I don't know if deer eat vinca, sorry to say. It is not true that they eat anything. There are some plants--pachysandra--that they don't touch.

But I see another problem. If impatiens flourished in that spot, then vinca most likely will not. It loves full sun and lots of heat. Impatiens likes a lot more shade, as you know. Wish I had better advice.
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ditnc
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks and I guess the owner of the website discontinued access to the link.

Ginny, thanks and yes, I know about the light issue. This basket is on my mom's gravesite and I mixed salvia with impatiens in a coir container - it's really pretty. It gets about 50/50 sun/shade, so impatiens can survive there and I think Vinca might be able to as well. Actually, as of yesterday, the impatiens were ok (vs the ones we lost to deer about 10 miles away). But deer hang out in the cemetary eating the plants (how rude!), so we'll see if the impatiens survive. Maybe they will spare us :) We're ready to replace them with vinca or something else if they munch on them. I think the salvia should be ok.
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rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
14 years ago
Unless the deer are starving, they will leave Catharanthus (which is the name of the 'Vinca' you are referring to) alone. This plant is toxic. However, it prefers full sun conditions. I can't imagine it doing well in the same location Impatiens thrives.

Many members of this plant family, Apocynaceae, are considered quite toxic and are often a safe bet for use around deer.
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Donna
14 years ago
I too have never known deer to eat Vinca (or Salvia either, for that matter). In addition, they have never bothered zinnias here. Ken is right, though, under the right conditions, they will eat virtually anything. I do hope you can find a good solution. Maybe you could plant a nice mix of several plants and monitor them for results.
lindaw_cincy
14 years ago
I have a deer problem but so far the Vinca works out fine. I have the vinca planted in built in deck boxes and the deer do not touch them. They prefer my knockout roses.
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ditnc
Original Author
14 years ago
lindaw - I'm glad you shared that....I had been considering putting a potted knockout rose there!

I'll check the status of the flowers this weekend. I'll take some Vinca as backup in case the deer have eaten the impatiens. If there's not enough light for them, I'll swap them out for something else.

ginny, thank you for the kind comment...
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lindaw_cincy
14 years ago
I forgot to mention that my vinca are in full sun all day. They thrive. The deer come thru twice a day, once in morning, then in evening. I have been planting the vinca for about 6 years. I tried impatiens in pots one year and they ate them to the bare soil. Planted Hostas one day, they were gone the next!!
ditnc
Original Author
14 years ago
lindaw - I'm glad you shared that....I had been considering putting a potted knockout rose there!

I'll check the status of the flowers this weekend. I'll take some Vinca as backup in case the deer have eaten the impatiens. If there's not enough light for them, I'll swap them out for something else.

ginny, thank you for the kind comment...
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sharlie
13 years ago
I know you asked the vinca deer resistant question a long time ago, but I just saw this. I have switched from impatiens to annual vinca several years ago. The deer do not eat the Vinca. I start the vinca from seed. Hope this helps.
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