Deer Resistant Annuals
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 hard work, not to mention turn your flower bed into an expensive deer smorgasbord.
I could hardly wait for my lilies to bloom when my elusive friends arrived at blooming time. 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 but not my flowers!!!!
Surprisingly, there are a number of annual plants that do not appeal to deer (although when hungry, they will eat almost anything).
The following is a list of some deer resistant annuals. Deer may find them least appetizing to eat unless they are desperate.
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
We Recommend:
Buy Deer Repellent Spray
For additional information on deer resistant perennials
Just wondering if different species of deer are attracted to different plants?
I was admiring my petunias one evening..thinking how nice they looked..only to wake up the next morning to find all their tops were eaten off….yes deer eat them too! They had a feast during the night because all my neighbors petunia flowers were ate too!
My petunias are still thriving. I actually watch deer, on two occasions, walk up o the flowers, sniff and walk away. They loved my Easter lilies, though.
Deer love pansies! Not sure why that is on the list.
P.S.
Deer haven’t touched my platinum blonde lavender plants either… These are relatively new plants, and not proven for for winter survival yet though they are zoned into the northeast, but I’m in zone 6a (NY) and they did beautifully through the winter. Beautiful foliage too. Got them at a big box store last year.
I forgot to post the main reason why I was going to comment… I read deer WILL eat petunia, so I would scratch that off. Marigolds and geraniums are odorous, so I would think they wouldn’t like that..
I planted russian sage this year in one bed with hostas. They haven’t touched the hostas since. I do think there’s something to them liking the early growth. If you can keep them away till after it’s grown enough.
I believe also my mouthwash/beer/epsom salt mosquito spray might be keeping them away also. Equal parts, put in a sprayer attached to hose and spray on surrounding bushes/trees/plants. I’ve had some success with garlic, oil and hot sauce in a sprayer, but it seems to need to be applied often. They are were hitting my hydrangeas for a period after spraying.
We have had coyotes as well as deer invading our property in the Northwest. So, we ordered wolf urine from Amazon, and we have not seen any coyotes (knock on wood). It also appears the deer have changed their pathway.
Piss around the plants works best.
I have been in the industry for 44 years. The last twenty has been crazy with deer damage here in Ohio. My solution that seems to be working for the last full year, is to feed the deer. Three to four pounds of corn scattered on the ground AWAY from any “deer candy” plantings has worked fine. You can put the deer right where you want them and it seems like they move on after their corn buffet. Probably off to the neighbors, but hey, it is every man for himself!
Get the Paint ball gun and start shooting the deers… they will get extra ‘spots’ on their body and butts.
This year, they are in dozen and not in couple. There is entire family. If I go after, they will be eagerly looking at me like I am strange animal. If I throw small object, curiously they will look the movement of object and slowly will go after it, smell it and will be looking at me like and saying, “please throw some edibles, please”.
Uh… am tired of them.
Deer woes and tips
Deer here (Somerset NJ) love my geraniums and neatly chomp the flowers off every single one, leaving spikes of stems. Oddly, they often leave the white ones. They also devour hostas like a salad bar planted esp for them.
But my “wave” type petunias they don’t even touch! I thank God for that, because they are so pretty.
I thought my marigolds were safe until they chewed the leaves off some that hadn’t flowered yet, but I planted others with flowers and those they haven’t touched. Yet.
I love deer… from afar. But I wish they’d leave my poor flowers alone. Bird netting works perfect for those behind my house where I can totally surround the little garden outside my window so visible from inside. But that’s not practical in my front garden. Bummer. Have tried various homemade sprays but none have been ideal.
I hate deer!! I finally had a nice looking garden until a deer decided it was going to a smogasborg. It ate my ready to pick lettuce, tomato tips, and small lily plants that were just starting to bud. It boldy attacked my front entry way planter; ate the impatiens, tuberous begonia and sweet potato vine but left the torenia and spike. I guess that wasn’t tasty enough. All that hard work disappeared in one day. There’s plenty of “other” stuff that they could eat around the yard but NOOOO! they had to pick the garden and my expensive planter. That’s why I hate deer.
I agree, deer love petunias. Last year I sprinkled cayenne pepper but had to reapply after every rain. They also love pansies
I noticed Petunias are on the deer-resistant list of annuals. Not so!! They demolish my petunias as soon as I set them out. I have tried every deterrent known to man, recipes for a spray on deterrent, human hair, diesel fuel. You name it, I’ve tried it, nothing keeps them away.
Deer woes!
Joyce… you must live in NJ. Horrible here. Day and night we have herds. Nibble at my marigolds, lilies even my holy bushes?! Vinca (pinks are beautiful) and heliotrope make for a nice annual spread.
I just read that Grow Biointensive is the new way of gardening. Have you heard anything about this before?
Garden tip
I string heavy fishing line about 12″ high around the plants I wish to protect. The deer bump into it at night, can’t see it , don’t know what they are dealing with and leave. Works for me. R
Is the Gerbera Daisy deer resistant?
I’m looking for a deer repellent recipe that I can make instead of buying it. Do you know of any??