I'm not sure a what they do eat list would help any more than a list of what they don't eat. They eat my nicotiana (a tender perennial, grown as an annual), and that's supposed to be deer resistant? If they're desperate enough, they'll eat anything. What they really like to eat are my bulbs, pansies, and sanvitalia, along with heliotrope and pentas, and stock, all tender perennials grown as annuals. I can't keep them off the autumn clematis either, but it's a perennial. It's just that it's their favorite. Keeps it pruned and from seeding everywhere though, so there is that. Most things are left alone. They don't seem to eat my morning glories, Salvia, Dianthus, Scabiosa, poppies, Phlox (annual. I don't have any perennial), Cynoglossum, Dahlberg daisy (Thymophylla), Calendula, Orlaya, larkspur, Kiss me over the Garden Gate, Nigella, Phacelia, petunias, Cosmos, sunflowers, snapdragons, cornflower, strawflower, Gilia, nasturtiums, and zinnias if that helps?

Holley, yes, I love our fence. When first having it installed in the Dark Ages, the consideration was practical; we needed a secure place for our children and dog to play without danger of wandering into the street. As soon as the fence went in, I began to notice how nice the trees and other plants looked set off against it. Just as we had hoped! And in all the years since, I've enjoyed all the landscaping with that fence as a background. Even if we had never had children or a dog, the fence would have been a wise investment in landscaping beauty, just as much so as, say, a pergola, a boxed planter, or anything else in the yard. We didn't choose it as a solid fence because of any knowledge of deer habits at the time; we just thought it would look good with our house and yard. In retrospect now, though, a solid 6-foot tall fence is the kind of fence I'd recommend to anyone living in the proximity of deer. Best wishes, Mary

Dear Westchester, I sympathize. I converted my gardens to mostly deer-resistant plants and am enjoying the benefits. The plants you mention and those mentioned by others are generally deer-resistant (except the liliesÂIÂll trade deer with that person). The main reason I reply is to let you know there is another recent post in this forum about home-brewed concoctions. Many of these are more effective than bought ones. I know. Also the motion detector-sprayers are effective. (I garden upstate where my land borders a forest preserve, so deer drop by throughout the day and night.) I also want to let you know of a z5 nursery (MI) that sells only deer-resistant plants. (You can check their ratings on gardenwatchdog.com) Finally, a word of caution about lists of deer-resistant plants. For every two deer that dislike, say, Rudbekia, one will love it. So, take anybodyÂs list with a grain of salt and as a potential dinner invitation to Bambi&Co. Here is a link that might be useful: Deer-Resistant Nursery

I have found that the deer here will eat many plants that are on the lists of deer resistant plants, but at least the lists give you a starting point. And, don't let today fool you. It is going to be in the 70s and 80s today, but many of us have a freeze in the forecast for overnight Saturday into Sunday morning, so keep that in mind when purchasing and planting. In our home landscape, deer simply devour most veggies, especially okra, pepper plants, tomato plants, pumpkin and squash plants, swiss chard, carrots, broccoli, cabbage, etc. They don't touch many herbs like basil, parsley, catmint, lemon balm, borage, catnip, sage, oregano, etc. They do eat hollyhocks, sunflowers (eat them right down to the ground), hardy hibiscus, begonias, nasturtiums, daturas, and hostas, but they don't eat four o'clocks, verbena bonariensis, dusty miller, most salvias, cleome, cannas, zinnias, veronica, honeysuckle, iris, shasta daisies, morning glories, moonflower vine, sweet alyssum, globe amaranth, celosias and amaranths, black-eyed susan vine, cypress vine, cardinal climber vine, mina lobata and canary creeper vine. At our house they will browse on Texas Red Star hibiscus and Castor Bean foliage, but don't care as much for those and usually stop after they eat a couple of leaves. The shrubs we have that they seldom nibble include Burford Holly, Stokes Yaupon Holly, Possumhaw Holly, American Beautyberry, Southern Wax Myrtle, dwarf nandinas, and dwarf junipers. The worse the conditions in terms of drought or just a lack of available browse in the wintertime, the more the deer will nibble plants (out of desperation) that they don't normally bother. At our house they generally don't bother American Cross Vine, Wisteria, both the orange and yellow-flowered Trumpet Creeper or coral honeysuckle. They also don't eat purple wintercreeper. I have the worst trouble in early spring when the deer are desperate for ANYTHING and they tend to nibble and sometimes devour anything I plant, no matter what it is, so most of the plants I care about go into an area with a 7' tall fence. Once Apr./May arrive and there is significant green-up of native vegetation, they generally won't bother as many varieties of plants as they do in Feb./Mar. In general, the deer don't bother native plants and hybrids developed from native plants as much as they devour exotic, expensive, imported ones. I have linked one list for you below. You can google "deer resistant plants" and get many other such lists. Here is a link that might be useful: One List of Deer Resistant Plants