Oh, greenbug, I was just in Costco and had to pass up the Daylilies and Phlox because I know the deer will eat them. Didn't know miserable mangy groundhogs ate them but there's not much they don't eat. My father's rose bushes all have 4' green rabbit fencing in circles around them. I still have to spray them weekly with a repellant and even then they are often defoliated and "deflowered" by the deer as long as there's anything left on there. They can eat an entire 3'x4' floribunda rose bush in one night. Heartbreaking so better you know you should take precautions. You can do it but it's going to take much effort on your part to have those beautiful plants and blooms. I didn't want to post an answer because I didn't want to rain on your parade. Better you be prepared for the extra protection your plants are going to need than plant them, wait/watch the growth/bloom only to have them disappear one night. I've tried for 2 years to cross reference a deer, rabbit and slug resistant list of plants. Impossible to find wide variety for 3 season bloom for which plants are resistant to all three critters. I can fight slugs to some degree with diomatceous earth sprinkled around susceptible plants so I focus more on deer and rabbits. Rabbit fencing installed correctly helps but doesn't look too hot around highly visible flower beds. And groundhogs can climb or tunnel under these fences anyway. I've ended up with a lot and/or getting more varieties of Agastache, Salvia, Nepeta, Echinacea (iffy), Alchemilla Mollis (Lady's Mantle), Astilbe, Foxglove, Lobelia (iffy), Monarda and Allium (Fall planted bulbs). Adding to all beds this year highly aromatic (noninvasive) herbs (rosemary, lady lavender, oregano,thyme & sage) which I'll either grow from seed and/or buy 6 packs this spring to spread around the beds to try and distract critters with scents from eating other more vulnerable plants. Last Fall I planted some Penstemon which only had a few leave eaten over winter but rabbits haven't been out yet. We'll see. Have Campanula to plant out but don't know if that'll be eaten. We'll see. I've used the "plant search" feature on Bluestone Perennials web site and enter my zone, deer resistant and rabbit resistant. The results only show what they sell but it's a start. Cornell Univ. has some helpful research resources. http://www.hort.cornell.edu/gardening/factsheets/deerdef/index.html There are a number of native plants that are relatively deer resistant. If you haven't already done so it was helpful for me to find my local county extension web site and locate their "deer resistant" listing. It indicates whether there's heavy, moderate, occasional, almost never deer browsing of many plant varieties. That's a place to start and then hope the deer aren't too hungry or overpopulated in your area (they likely are already like here) so you can at least have a shot at having your perennnials survive deer. Rabbits and groundhogs are just another story. Once you know you've got a significan deer problem it's research, plant/bed protection with a lot of trial and error. Swearing doesn't help in the least though it's therapeutic for a nanosecond. :) I've gotten some plants from a very nice couple in upstate NY who have a mail order business called Graceful Gardens. The plants are starter size but some will bloom first year. And there's the shipping cost that's certainly not unreasonable compared to most vendors but an added cost nonetheless. They have a "deer resistant" section which I've used. Not failsafe and some things massacred by rabbits and groundhogs but I learned without spending a comparative fortune on blooming sized perennials. Very nice couple owns it and are very accomodating. Gracefulgardens.com I google "deer resistant nj" and peruse the online mail order plant vendor sites to see what they offer. I don't buy from them but use their info for "possible" list. Found a pretty extensive list for CT at a place called Twombly Nursery. Don't have to buy there...just use their list(s) for starter reference. Linked site for you. Just remember rabbits, groundhogs or slugs might be a problem even if it's on deer resistant list. Even by googling each plant name on list(s) coupled with either rabbit or slug resistant you'll have to try things out to see what works. As 'leslies' said...annuals have their rightful place for deer resistance and bloom power. Even I was able to start Ageratum from seed and there were only a few nibbles over a very long season of bloom without any slug damage. Same for Salvia coccinea. Sweet Alyssum gives a lot of bang for the buck. I ordered 4 Datura plants (supposedly poisonous) and I'm already assuming all the deer will need is a couple Rolaids after eating a good bit of them but it's worth a try. Hope we haven't bummed you out too much. Just don't want you to go through more heartache losing "known" highly browsed plants. It's hard to realize you can't have some plants you really want unless you have a deck or can fence them in well. I'm still in denial on a few things but getting better...LOL. Here is a link that might be useful: Deer Resistant Plant List - CT

Me too! I got 7 cards today. My first day I received them. Jodie(Jodie74) sent me plenty of zinnia and gaillardia seeds Lisa(pumpkingal) sent me zinnia orange, gaillardia, black eyed susans and daisy (what a nice selection) Angelu(yotetrapper) sent me moon & stars watermelon and jarrahdale pumpkin (I have to look these up - am excited for these) Iris(rane_grow) - fanfare blanket flower Lynn(fearadun) - gaillardia (red/yellow), mutant marigold, calendula (unique card) Ellie(farmergirl) - canna , zinnia and gaillardia Katie(redthreaddiy) - canna, balloon flower and gaillardia (I will check out your website soon - I like that you put what type it is in your own seed packet like half - hardy - I think I messed up some seeds before due to that) I'm excited to start wintersowing. I thank you so much for the nice cards and seeds. I will attach all these cards to my wall... Thank you Kym for setting this up. It involves a lot of time to organize this. I will have various zinnias and gaillardia. =-) Hope they will flower the first year. Michelle

Today I received another card! According to the note written on the envelope, it was delayed due to the zip code being incorrect, but at least it made it! Thank you Kathy (katkni) for the very pretty cardinal card and seeds. I received lemon basil (I've been looking forward to trying this!), calendula, black cumin (sounds interesting), and cosmos. Thank you so much! P.S. Although a bit late, I finished my rate and reviews for everyone I received from today. Thank you all! Mandy This post was edited by l1oness on Thu, Jan 2, 14 at 19:41

Oh my ... santa's garden elves have been very busy !! My mailbox was overflowing today when I got home from work ! Many thanks go to : GraanieB - sent confederate rose double pink hibiscus , coral nymph salvia, night blooming jasmine, triple yellow datura , burgundy giant celosia Naturegirl236 sent blue bedder sage salvia farinacea , summerlong basil , downy aster and pineapple sage Karendee sent a Seeds n Greetings (cute) card with french marigold seeds Pumkingal sent a really cute homemade card with sweet yellow and red pepper seeds, cherokee sunset rudbeckia ,columbine mix , purple coneflower , crazy daisy , blue moon lilliput aster , hollyhocks and joe pye weed and an ornament craft ! Daffodillady sent giant zinnia , candy cane zinnia, lilliput zinnia,snapdragons, gloriosa daisy, sweet williams, forget me nots, 2 packs of NOID tomato seeds, red gomphrena, sams club peppers, 4 o'clocks, ornamental cabbage , JL's yellow rose, formosa lily, sweet banana peppers, mixed ornamental peppers, sweet dumpling squash and mixed hardy hibiscus and I think it was Daffodillady who sent ( all these wonderful envies got a little mixed up with this last " packet " - " peppermintious delectus cuttings " YUM ... can y'all guess what it is ?? hee hee !! Thank you all so very much for your generosity , I love all the seeds and can hardly wait for spring to grow them, my garden is going to be so beautiful thanks to you ! I feel very blessed to be a part of GW , I wish I could give everyone good health and happiness this holiday season and in the New Year ! ~Iris