ok i "just happened" LOL to come accross another thingi, hope thing. LOL hope these ones help out. Q&A: Flowers Deer Avoid Question: We live in upstate NY, and have several areas that would be great for naturalizing perennials and bulbs. Can you suggest plants that would be somewhat deer-resistant? Answer: Deer are crafty, and if they're hungry, persistent. This is to say, take all "deer resistant" recommendations with a grain of salt because hungry deer will eat just about anything. That said, here are some choices that would work where you live: astilbe, bee balm, bleeding heart, columbine, coreopsis, crocosmia, crocus, daffodil, dahlia, foxglove, gloriosa daisy, hellebore, lupine, moss pink, pincushion flower, poppy, purple coneflower, and thyme. The only guaranteed solution to keeping deer at bay is a fence -- one tall enough that deer can't jump.

I feel your pain. I too have been suffering with the explosion of the deer population.....living in a rural area doesn't help. For years, I used to tolerate the odd nibble on various plants, but now if I don't fence off my L shaped row of cedar trees in front, and the plants within...I would be left with sticks. The deer fencing (bird netting) just didn't work for me, they cut it with their hooves and entered. I had to upgrade to a heavy netting used by fishermen. I built a permanent wooden fence in the back of my yard and am in the process of moving deer favorites to the back. Unfortunately I can't move the trees as they are too old, will just replace in a few years. Ones they aren't supposed to like, but forgot to read the manual and thus eat are...crocus, weigela, kalmia, clematis, blue fescue grass, yucca and iris. They have left alone; spireas, mugo pine, kolkwitzia, crocosmia, bleeding heart, heuchera, hellebore, snow drops, allium, columbine, ferns and artemsia. I does seem to be changing all the time though. Good Luck

Maryland - Shasta Daisys (blooming) were ignored right next to perennial black-eyed-susans which were literally mowed down (just before blooming) in one garden. On the other side of the house, both were mowed down to the ground; both were JUST before buds opened; I think they prefer the young greenery. Once the flowers are open, they might be safer from deer. Really pointy hollies they leave alone (so far) but any hollies without the stickers, they eat them, especially new growth. Invasives? They ate a fence full of Virginia Creeper, but only on one side of the fence--of course, the side we get to look at. Daffodils? They don't eat them, just bite off the buds and spit them out. Hyacinths have been untouched. Marigolds? They just pull them out of the ground, then spit them out to dry up and die. Forget about the hydrangeas and daylillies. I've seen them eat the neighbor's barberry bushes, thorns and all. My barberries, they just step on and break. Iris goes untouched. Coral bells survive some nibbling. Periwinkle groundcover survives unless they pull it out. Most of my neighbors have arborvitae--there's a contest for the best "deer topiary." I'm trying some ferns now, some wild from our woods, some purchased. The nursery had a sale for "a buck a piece" but I hope that doesn't mean they are FOR the bucks. I know, lame joke. Motion activated lights? The deer look happier, oh thank you, now they can see what they are eating! Motion activated water? Oh, thank you, what a nice bath. Motion activated sound? Oh, thank you, piped in music. Barking dogs? Oh, don't worry, they can't get out. Coyote urine? Oh, just eat around it, there are starving children in the next county. My hairdresser gave me a bag of hair cuttings to try. One of her customers swears by it. Didn't help my poor hydrangea, though. Maybe I'll try tying little mesh bags full. The hydrangea has become the "deer test" for many supposed deterrents. None have worked so far. BlueBars

Hi ValyGirl, If you have Bishop's Weed, a/k/a Snow-on-the-Mountain, in there, that stuff is EXTREMELY invasive and will wind up taking over the entire area. The comment in my "most used" perennial "picture" book, has this comment by the description of Aegopodium! "If you are moving away from neighbors that you can't stand, plant this on the property line just before you go. You can rest assured you will have gotten even for every wrong, no matter how great." If you've put it in fairly recently, you may want to reconsider your decision to grow it before it becomes well established. It is extremely difficult to eradicate when it starts to spread. Two of the things you already have, Geraniums and snow-in-summer are listed on my list of deer resistant plants and will probably work for you--depending on your deer! No plant is "deer proof," and what they will or won't eat depends on the time of the year and stage of growth, the availability of other food, and the deer themselves! A couple more short groundcover things on my list are Ajuga and Lamium maculatum, both are sun or shade and both should do well with the light you've described--and both are controllable! Galium, sweet woodruff is another one that should do well in your light, but it too can become invasive after 2 or 3 years--but nothing like Aegopodium! Linked below is the Rutgers "deer resistance" list. It's the best one I've ever found, and you can vary your parameters when looking for things, and the plants are rated by "degree" of "resistance!" The things I've listed are all on either the "perennials" list, or the "groundcovers" list, so be sure you check all the different permutations so you don't miss something! I don't know what you mean by valerian. That's a common name used for at least two different things that I know of, and both of those are at least 3' tall, so I kind of doubt that you have either of those! Neither of them (Valeriana officinalis and Centranthus ruber) are listed on the Rutgers list. Check out their list and see if you can find something you really like--but if you decide to leave the Aegopodium in there, know that in a few years it will completely take over anything else you have planted there and the other things will "struggle" at best, and die at worst. Hope you wind up with some things you really like, Skybird Here is a link that might be useful: Landscape Plants Rated by Deer Resistance