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

Mike - great book. I've read that, too. I took notes, so I could remember her growing tips as well. I live in a clearing in the woods at a camp & conference center, so the deer presence is strong & they're used to people also. Besides gardening around our home we work on gardens around the camp where there is no fencing to keep them out. I don't apply deterrents there, but some staff members stick soap in the soil near the rose bushes. In one area another staff family has a dog that deters them so we can plant edibles for our childrens' gardens. Sounds like you have good experience to deter deer from your newly planted specimens. I hope to scare them before they enter the garden and are just walking on the driveway. Like you I've had them break off stems or sink in rootballs by jumping through in spring when the new growth is out and the wet & soft. Sometimes their feet do tramp through gardens, so I've learned to plant closely & have paths in back of borders that are next to a fence or the house. When the deer can't see over it or can't find a path through it they don't enter, but do attempt to nibble around the front. Barberry prunings from my daughter's place crisscrossed & laying on the path prevented them from getting to seedlings & small plants in the spring. I removed them when the plants were larger. Some root well from cuttings in spring, so you can multiply what you have to make large groupings or repeat in the border. Sedum, Nepeta, Lamium, golden creeping jenny, & vinca minor can cover quite a bit of ground after awhile like a living mulch. The deer eat the tall sedum at our parents' island home, but haven't eaten them here. I was pleasantly surprised with Nepeta cuttings from new spring growth, stripped lower leaves, poked my finger in soft soil directly in the garden where I wanted the plants, & inserted. I moved a few of them further back as they matured as I put them too close to the edge, but other than that they've been easy. Another tip besides starting seeds -- find a free plant swap near you. Those plants are going to transplant well since they've already acclimated to your climate. No heartache if they don't make it because they were free! Just be careful to clean up any stray weeds before you plant them. Sometimes I just wash that soil all away before planting out. I've received rootbound seedings that sprouted in bark on top of plastic in someone's garden. A bit of root prep & they've been great plants. Have you tried some ornamental grasses either stand alone or in groupings? Some can be grown from seed. I've received some of my best ones for part sun at free plant swaps as divisions or seedlings that will mature & reseed again for me. Spring planted starts establish quickly. Some are well behaved clumpers and some are spreaders. Be sure to read up which fit your situation. The spreaders are in sunken pots to keep them as a clump. What ever is new to me becomes my favorite at the time. Hope that helps, Corrine

I've tried Astilbe chinensis which is more drough resistant than A. arendsii with no success, so ligularias wouldn't stand a minimal chance there. Now when you mention it, I recall planting L.przhewalskii (the most tough of all of them) there and moving it somewhere else in a couple of months. Yes, it's shady, but shade is open, not a dark-dark. Place is under canopies of very tall limbed up maples, oaks and ashes. Buddleia davidii less likely will bloom there and I don't think it's too attractive not in a bloom, but you reminded me about my B. alternifolia which need a better place than where it is and might even bloom there given her spring bloom time. Not very attractive plant, though.

Hi Jenny, As so many people around here will tell you, the deer, unfortunately, have not read these lists, but just to give you more places to look and more lists to compare, here are several more deer resistant lists that are pretty good. This one seems like it might be pretty helpful because it lists the different types of plants by DEGREE of resistance. As you said, though, if theyÂre hungry, theyÂll eat almost anything, and, different deer seem to prefer different plants tooÂjust like human beings! This one is also nice because you can search by common or Latin name, and by plant type, or you can just search for a specific plant. Rutgers - Plants Rated by Deer Resistance HereÂs a Montana State University Extension list which includes zones for the plants, which could be helpful. This one is a List from Parker, Colorado which seems to be pretty good. And a list from the University of Arizona Extension Service. By comparing plants to see if theyÂre on more than one list, you should be able to get an idea of how many PEOPLE think a plant is deer resistant. Now all we have to do it to teach the deer to readÂand abide by the lists! Good luck, and welcome to RMG, Skybird