Compiling lists of deer resistant plants is always a challenge........deer don't bother to read them :-) Seriously, deer can nibble on anything at least once and sometimes that's enough to cause serious damage. It depends on how much natural forage is available, regional deer appetites (they do vary widely), how new the plant is to the garden and the age of the deer. Fawns in particular will taste anything to determine if it is something they might like.

Hellebores and euphorbias are typically safe as is anything with a lot of essential oils - lavender, salvias, agastache, echinacea, nepeta, bee balm (monarda). And plants with fuzzy foliage like lambs ears, phlomis, verbascum, digitalis. And most ornamental grasses are pretty safe bets as well.

Thanks! This will give us a good idea what will work. We are working on rehabbing a badly neglected flower beds. In and around this area are small spaces of semi naturalized areas hill sides with old trees and further away is a small river with trees, there are mix of buildings and parking lots. There have been sightings of the occasional adults no fawns. The grounds keeping staff wants to make sure we do not encourage deer to hang out.

you might want to try the GW search engine near the top of the page ...

i am going to bet.. you might find thousands of historical posts across all the forums ...

ken

Toxic plants are usually safe from deer, though in a public space might not want to be used: castor bean, foxglove, monkshood, etc.

Daffodils and alliums are safe if you want to add a few spring bulbs. Siberian and bearded iris are also safe from all but a curious fawn. Add columbines and rudbeckia to garden gal's list of perennials and she pretty much nailed it for Virginia suburban deer.

Thanks all, I took Kens suggestion and searched past posts as well, lots of good information, like I said its better to ask the gardeners here. I always find out that there is always more to learn then I knew I did not know..... I passed along the information to the powers at be and am waiting to gather the interested parties and meet with the groundskeepers and get the final ok to rip out the yews and weeds and mess and start fresh. Thanks again!

I have had really good results too with placing a few bars of Irish Spring soap in/around my gardens. Not sure why but it seems they don't like the smell of it.