Plant Care & Gardening Tips@ HortChat.com©

One of the nemeses of a gardener is the unwanted visits of deer in your yard. They feed voraciously in the spring and one visit can devastate a lot of loving care and not to mention turn your flower bed into an expensive deer smorgasborg. I could hardly wait for my lilies to bloom and when blooming time arived so did my elusive friends. Bit by bit, they plucked off the long awaited flower buds and left me with the unrequited joy that I would never see any color in my flower beds. I maintain a love-hate relationship with these long legged creatures, I love to observe them and realize they also need to eat. I am willing to sacrifice other specimens in the yeard for their well-being but not my flowers!!!!

Suprisingly, there are a number of plants that do not appeal to deer (although when hungry the will eat almost anything). The following are not on their favorite plant menu.
Annuals
Ageratum
Begonia (Wax) not always
Blanket flower (Gailardia pulchella)
Borage (Borago)
Cleome (Cleome Hassierana)
Cosmos
Dahlia
Dianthus
Dusty Miller (Senecia Cineraria)
Foreget-Me-Not (Myosotis sylvatic)
Four-O’Clock (Mirabalis Jalapa)
Geranium (Pelargonium)
Heliotrope (Heliotropium)
Lobelia
Marigold (Tagetes)
Morning Glory (Ipomoea)
Nasturtium (Tropaeolum)
Pansy (Viola)
Petunia
Polka-Dot Plant (Hypoestes)
Salvia (Salvia farinacea)
Snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus)
Sunflower (Helianthus)
Sweet alysum (Lobularia maritime)
Verbena (verbena X hybrida
Herbs Thyme, rosemary, sage, parsley, basil