Yellow pattypans would be a great choice if I didn't have such troubles with the SVBs. No peashooters in the summer in this climate. I don't usually use them in the game once I achieve the starfruits anyway. I hadn't thought of peanuts. That's a definite possibility. The whole thing was my 10yo's idea really because this fall when we were putting in the cabbages he commented that we were planting cabbage-pults. :-D

Deer. It isn't even a question. You have deer, and they like to eat things that stay green during the winter. They can also jump 10 foot mulch piles. The holly may come back over the summer. If they do, you will have to plan to protect them next winter. That is assuming they are like my deer which are pretty reasonable during the summer, but turn into plant destroying monsters when the snow comes. They don't eat boxwood. They would rather not eat juniper or spruce. They like yews more than holly, and will eat a surprising amount of rhododendron. If evergreen isn't a necessity, there are a lot of reasonable choices. Deciduous plants also seem to recover faster than evergreen. Posts like this always remind me of a post from years (decades?) ago. Someone in Los Angeles wanted to know what sort of sick, depraved person would steal rose buds. Why would someone go to all the trouble of cutting off just the buds, then picking them up and taking them away? I took several posts to convince them it was done by an inhuman intelligence that thought the buds were tasty.

I don't know if this is the correct name for this bromeliad. But it looks exactly like a solid green 'fireball',but the older leaves are a blood red! It is really nice. It looks like a 'FireBall' that got left in the deep shade and instead of the NEW leaves turning red once it gets sun finally, the OLDER leaves are a dark red instead and the NEW leaves are solid green. It was just on Ebay for auction and I forgot to bid in time and I didnt write the name down. So...anyone with one that sounds like this? Or have something like it? I need to update my trade list. But I am sure we can figure something out:) Thanks again!!

I don't know if it is the Cherry Bomb cultivar (doubt it), but I asked a friend of mine about his experience with barberry invasiveness and he says he does find barberry seedlings on a regular basis in his garden.