Don't confuse deer resistant with deer proof. Given the tastes of the herds in any given locality - nothing is absolutely foolproof.

That being said. Over the course of many years, even in desperate times, deer have never attempted to even nibble on my Veronicas, Nepetas, Penstemons, Russian Sages, Oriental poppies, Siberian Iris, PJM Rhododendrons, Northern Lights series azaleas, and peonies.

So far this year, they've left the majority of my lilies and all the daylilies alone. But they did an early cropping of my balloon flowers, sedums, tall garden phlox and hostas - all of which are recovering nicely and didn't seem to suffer much.

I am gradually moving toward replacing deer candy with perennials and shrubs that have a fighting chance - even if I end up with a lot of different varieties of the same plant. And I do make good use of Liquid Fence and chicken wire cages (which get hidden by foliage).

They have never touched:
Nepetas
Russian Sage
Coreopsis
Lambs Ear
Lavender
Peonys
Salvia
Baptisia
Agastache
Anaphalis
Armeria
ornamental grasses
Siberian Irises
Santolina
Daffodils
Alliums
I have to disagree with the post above - they eat any of my lilies, veronicas, PJM Rhododendrons

Also, when I plant anything (even deer proof plants) I always spray it with deer repellant. Sometimes they are curious and will taste anything new. Even if they don't like it, if every deer in the herd takes a bit, there is not much of a plant left. Also, when the baby deer are around you have to spray deer proof plants - they have to learn what not to eat. They often eat something they shouldn't and learn by getting a tummy ache.

Thanks! I guess you are right that no plant is truly deer proof... well, perhaps my Rose Glow Barberry is!!! LOL!

Anyway, pegnj, thank you! You know what? I think that you are absolutely right there - I have noticed a few little bambi around - they probably ate what they were not supposed to. For instance, even my poor paniculata hydrangeas did not escape them this year! These are supposed to be poisonous to deer. Oh well, I guess some deer somewhere did have a tummy ache after that! LOL!

BTW, they even chewed on my Agastache this year... sigh! What am I gonna do???!!!

It is true that they did not touch my peonies, coreopsis, Russian Sage and nepeta.

I am tempted to yank out the achilleas now and replace them with something else.... hmm....

I'd like to add perennial geraniums to that deer resistant list. They never touch mine.

They tend to leave alone herbs (so salvia, monarda, catmint), very smelly plants (lavender) and fuzzy textured leaves (lamb's ears, rose campion, etc.)

But if the deer are starving, I'll reckon they'll eat anything, even a holly, spikey leaves and all.

The aconitums (Monkshood), being poisonous, tend to be deerproof, at least in my experience. And they're stunning, if grown right. GaryStPaul

The fawns try a lot of plants, but don't usually do a lot of damage. There are at least 3 new sets of twins and a few singles in our neighborhood deer herd right now. I just saw another brand new fawn today. They have them right behind our house where they feel safe!

What the mature deer eat in the garden depends upon whether or not they are starving from lack of food in the wild. My deer resistant perennials aren't touched until late August, then they start foraging for food.

I am listing only those plants that I've personally grown in my garden where 20+ deer wander through at least once a day. I'm sure that I've forgotten a few plants, but these are the best.

Top Flowering Deer Resistant Perennials:

Agastache
'Salmon & Pink'
'Blue Fortune'
'Purple Haze'
'Purple Pygmy'
'Heather Queen'

Echinacea
'Ruby Star'
'White Swan'
'Sundown' (I think that's it -- orange)

Monarda
'Raspberry Wine'
'Jacob Cline'
'Blue Stocking'

Nepeta
'Walkers Low' and 'Six Hills Giant'

Salvia
guarantica 'Black & Blue'
ulignosa (bog sage)
greggii 'Dark Dancer', 'Navajo Bright Red', 'Diane', 'Texas Wedding', 'Cherry Queen'
nemorosa 'Marcus', 'Caradonna'

Other good deer resistant flowering perennials
heliotropium amplexicaule 'Azure Skies'
gaillardia
ageratum 'Wayside'
baptisia
coreopsis 'Creme Brulee' and verticillata 'Zagreb/
amsonia hubrichtii
verbena 'Homestead Purple'
verbena bonariensis
crocosmia 'Lucifer'
delosperma cooperii
stachys hummelo
anemone 'Margarette', 'Prince Henry'
rudbeckia 'Goldsturm'
iris ensata (there may be some bloom picking. I grow many of these and lost only 3 blooms that I noticed)

Top Flowering Deer Resistant Shrubs & Trees
Crape Myrtle 'Tuscarora', 'Muskogee', 'White Chocolate'
Buddleia 'Pink Delight', 'Royal Red', 'Adonis Blue', 'Honeycomb', 'Black Knight' (and another one that is lavender/orange eye)
Vitex 'Shoal Creek'
Spirea 'Neon Flash' for blooms and a few other varieties for the foliage
Lantana (multiple varieties; some bloom nibbles may occur in late fall)
osmanthus fragrans
magnolia - Sweet Bay Magnolia and Southern (must protect trunk from antler rubbing, but they don't eat these)
Winter Daphne
Gardenia 'August Beauty'
I've just added the Proven Winners 'Blue Satin' Rose of Sharon to try. It is listed as deer resistant

Flowering Deer Resistant Vines
Carolina Jasmine
Confederate Jasmine

Flowering Deer Resistant Annuals and Bulbs
daffodils
Spanish bluebells
allium 'Purple Sensation'
Dutch iris
larkspur
snapdragons
petunias (I grow only the deep purple that are very fragrant. Not Wave.)
zinnias
marigolds

Deer Resistant Foliage Plants (shrubs, trees, herbs and perennials)
canna 'tropicana rose'
stachys 'Helen von Stein'
colocasia esculenta
white butterfly ginger
lysmachia nummularia Aurea

lavender (Spanish and 'Munstead')
rosemary
oregano (culinary officinalis and ornamental gold)
sages (culinary officinalis, purple, gold leaf, pineapple)
thyme (rose, lemon, culinary)
chives
basil (Thai, sweet, spicy, purple)

miscanthus 'Cosmopolitan', 'Little Zebra'
carex (multiple varieties)
pink muhly
pampas grass

chamaecyparis pisifera
wax myrtle
carex holly
oakleaf holly
osmanthus 'Goshiki'
cotinus - purple smokebush (I grow it for the foliage, not the bloom)
clumping bamboo (fargesii?)

weeping willow, curly willow
river birch
cryptomeria (Black Dragon and the large trees that are probably one of the Tsugi?)
deodar cedar

I'm in zone 7 of North Carolina.

Cameron

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If deer are eating your perennials sprayed with Liquid Fence, you are under very high deer pressure--they are near starving--and all bets are off about deer resistant perennials.

I'm only in my second full year of "gardening" at my father's house and it's been a roller coaster ride.

With all the development around my father's house over the years the deer have reproduced uncontrolled and now have much smaller grazing area. There's simply too many for the available food. They always ate what people consider "deer candy" but it's gone way beyond that now.

I must say, though, that I pass fields and fields of Alfalfa and other forage material grown year round which deer could eat but prefer garden plants.

When I spray with Liquid Fence and other repellants they bite off buds and drop them on the ground. A plant without the first flush of buds left as bare stalks isn't much help in the garden for some time even though deer didn't technically "eat" them.

Nothing with 4 legs has eaten:

Asclepias incarnata (Swamp Milkweed)
Asclepias tuberosa (Orange native)
Asclepias curassavica (Tropical Milkweed)
Eupatorium maculatum (large Joe Pye Weed)
Eupatorium rugosum 'Chocolate'
Lychnis Coronaria (Rose Campion)
Stachys byzantina
Nepeta 'Walkers Low' & 'Blue Carpet'
Lavender 'Hidcote' & 'Vera' (Lady)
Agastache aurantiaca 'Apricot Sprite'
Agastache rugosa 'Honey Bee Blue'
Agastache rupestris
Agastache cana 'Purple Pygmy'
Delphinium x elatum 'Magic Fountain'
Penstemon digitalis 'Huskers Red' & 'Mystica'
Lobelia cardinalis 'Queen Victoria' & 'Ruby Slippers'
Lobelia siphilitica (Great Blue)
Lobelia speciosa 'Fan Blue'
Monarda didyma (species)
Monarda didyma 'Petite Delight'
Verbena bonariensis
Lantana
Salvia coccinea 'Lady in Red', 'Coral Nymph'& 'Hummingbird White'
Salvia nemerosa 'Caradonna' (ate half of a 'May Night')
Bearded Iris (a few blooms nipped off)
Nicotiana sanderae (Limelight, Rose & White)

They eat our Holly and Boxwood...Holly to the point of large bare spaces but only exterior browsing of Boxwood. Rhododendron get browsed because they're intermingled with Azalea which are defoliated even when sprayed. Resorting to burlap covering this winter since I'm tired of having them decimated each year.

I tried to grow a Hydrangea, which I love, for a few years but they ate every leaf repeatedly until it just died. Again, sprayed repeatedly.

If it's not deer then it's groundhogs, rabbits and slugs.

I don't know which critter eats them but Zinnia & Marigolds have to be fenced or put on the deck to survive anytime from seedling stage until frost kills them off. The plants...not the deer!

It's upsetting when you research and give care to planting things that are supposedly "deer resistant" and they get decimated. I consider half the plant being eaten "decimated" but others consider it browsing. If it won't bloom at all or a few measly blooms it's a bust for the year. If it dies from repeated heavy browsing I struggle to find something that's shown to survive.

I think if you've got enough sunny areas your options are greater than if you want things that bloom in much more shade.

It's trial and error which can vary from year to year.

Cameron has a great running account of her experience with her "Deer Resistant Garden" and I find it encouraging to check it regularly. Different geographic locations and years vary but it's nice to look at her gardens to see what's working...and drool more than just a little!

I can't remember if you linked your blog, Cameron. If I go back to thread to check I'll have to type this all over again so sorry if my link is redundant. :)

When I make my early morning rounds to check for critter damage and plant conditions I can come upon damage that makes me utterly exasperated and crestfallen. I don't have that much space converted to amended beds or places where I've dug out cement clay down 2' and replaced with organic top soil. Lots of container grown plants with green rabbit fencing around "pot ghetto" along south side of house and stakes planted facing outward like sharpened javelins...LOL. Looks like hell with all the layers of protection this year but I refuse to lose more plants than I already have this year. The deer won't jump into this area since it's too close to house for that. Farther out and it's every plant for itself.

Good luck with selecting plants and finding a mix that works reasonably well for you in your area. Just remember that the deer are variable in their behavior so you're ready if/when they browse things they haven't before.

One can only grow so much Nepeta, Salvia, Agastache and few other things they very rarely even nibble.

Here is a link that might be useful: Defining Your Home -Cameron's Blogspot

The deer populations increases when land is developed, in central NJ anyway. There is not a lot of food in a forest. All the landscaping is like a smorgasbord, the mother's eat so well that they have twins and triplets. I watched a set of triplets yesterday browse my yard - (as I yelled at them them through the window 'your not suppose to eat that!)

But the real answer is a FENCE. I fenced in an area off the back of my house -'my garden' - my little piece of heaven - I love to watch the deer walk along it trying to figure out how to get to the tasty treats.

Outside the fence are 'deer proof' plants. But the selection of plants is just to limited to try to have a garden when there are so many deer coming through every day. I tried netting, sprays, etc. - it is just to frustrating - They put their heads under the netting. Spraying has to be everyday - if you miss a new flower/bud - they find it!

plant some really evil stuff like aconitum, larkspur and delphinium. All have poisonous alkaloid compounds that will be avoided. I've never had them touch hellebores, Hakone grass, chelone, ferns, astilbes, peonies, baptisia, dianthus, sweet williams, heuchera, forget me nots, perennial geraniums, saxifrage, anything in the asarum family,

Oh my goodness, having heard some of your horror stories, I think that I should just be quiet and deal with it!

Thanks for all of your tips and recommendations.

i would try poisonus things like datura and monkshood. peonies and hellebores are also as close to deer proof as you can get-- no matter the zone . . .

just my two cents worth.

j.

My dream/delusion is to have an entirely deer fenced acre with rabbit fencing along the bottom.

Just me with birds, "nice" squirrels, butterflies and hummingbirds to enjoy all the beautiful plants/blooms.

Rabbits are eating Dianthus, Calendula and Verbena.

It's a never ending battle but it's reality and we all have to deal with it as best we can.

You'll find a balance, Ostrich, and live with the browsing and worse by choosing more naturally resistant plants... and living with the variablility of deer habits year to year. If you're like me you'll still be exasperated when you see destruction but there's always another garden chore or plant they didn't decimate that year to draw you forward.

When I see the plants and blooms they haven't eaten I'm happy. What more can I ask than that after I get over my hissy feelings about what didn't make it.

I adjust plantings to try a better outcome but have to accept the deer are here to stay in increasing numbers unless the township/county can get the hardcore animal lovers to accept "contraceptive bait" that doesn't harm any animals but just keeps the population down to survivable/reasonable level for both deer and people.

Don't be discouraged by our "horror stories" as most people with critter damage get jump-started when the topic comes up...LOL.

They were offered to let you know other's share your experience and try to work around it.

Enjoy the successes and learn from the not so great experiences.

I should take my own advice to heart more next time I see plants defoliated or flowers bitten off. :)

I dont think any list is 100%. IT depends how much food is in the area how many deer there are, and what condition the herd is in. Each herd has its own preferences. I know in some areas they never touch yucca. They eat them in my area. In the lists above, they eat many of those plants.
I use deer out whenever we have a few days of hard rain. Its a commitment I made to myself, when I decided to plant gardens. Some people put up electric fences.
Best thing to do is to dissude people from feeding them in the winter. The more food they have the more young they produce.