PLANTS LESS FAVORED BY GRAZING DEER

Short of artificial plants, there are few plants that deer will not eat if the feeding pressure is great enough. If you want to select varieties that are less prone to damage under normal deer population levels, you may want to consider some of the plants in the following list.

PERENNIALS

Achillea (Yarrow)
Aconitum (Monkshood)
Acorus (Sweet Flag)
Actaea / Cimicifuga (Bugbane)
Agastache (Anise Hyssop)
Ajuga (Bugleweed)
Alchemilla (Lady’s Mantle)
Allium (Ornamental Onion)
Amsonia (Blue Star)
Anchusa (Alkanet)
Anemonella thalictroides (Rue Anemone)
Angelica (Angelica)
Anthemis (Golden Marguerite)
Arabis (Rock Cress)
Artemisia (Wormwood)
Aruncus (Goatsbeard)
Asarum (Ginger)
Asclepias (Milkweed)
Astilbe (False Spirea)
Aurinia (Basket of Gold)
Baptisia (False Indigo)
Bergenia (Pigsqueak)
Brunnera (False Forget Me Not)
Buddleja (Butterfly Bush) – tender
Calamagrostis (Reed Grass)
Campanula (Bellflower)
Carex (Sedge)
Caryopteris (Blue Mist Spirea) – tender
Centaurea (Perennial Cornflower)
Cerastium (Snow in Summer)
Ceratostigma plumbaginoides (Leadwort) – tender
Chionodoxa (Glory of the Snow)
Colchicum (Autumn Crocus)
Convallaria (Lily of the Valley)
Coreopsis (Tickseed)
Corydalis (Fumewort)
Dianthus (Pinks)
Digitalis (Foxglove) – biennial
Dicentra spectabilis / Lamprocapnus spectabilis (Bleeding Heart)
Dictamnus (Gas Plant)
Doronicum (Leopard’s Bane)
Duchesnea (False Strawberry)
Echinops (Globe Thistle)
Epimedium (Barrenwort)
Erigeron (Fleabane)
Eryngium (Sea Holly)
Eupatorium (Joe-pye Weed) – Joe-pye Weeds may also be found listed under the following generic names: Ageratina, Conoclinium & Eutrochium
Euphorbia (Spurge)
Ferns
Festuca (Fescue)
Fritillaria (Fritillaria)
Gaillardia (Blanket Flower)
Galanthus (Snowdrop)
Galium (Sweet Woodruff)
Geranium (Cranesbill)
Geum (Avens)
Goniolimon tataricum (Tatarian Sea-lavender)
Gypsophila (Baby’s-breath)
Helenium (Helen’s Flower)
Helleborus (Hellebore)
Heuchera (Coral Bell)
x Heucherella (Foamy Bells)
Inula ensifolia (Swordleaf Inula)
Iris (Iris)
Kirengeshoma (Yellow Waxbells)
Lamiastrum galeobdolon (Yellow Archangel)
Lamium maculatum (Spotted Dead Nettle)
Lavandula (Lavender)
Leucojum (Snowflake)
Liatris (Blazingstar)
Ligularia (Golden Ray)
Limonium latifolium (Wide-leaf Sea-lavender)
Linum (Flax)
Liriope (Lilyturf) – tender
Lychnis coronaria (Rose Campion) – biennial
Lysimachia (Loosestrife)
Macleaya (Plume Poppy)
Mentha (Mint)
Mertensia (Bluebells)
Mimulus (Monkey Flower)
Miscanthus (Maiden Grass)
Molinia (Moor Grass)
Monarda (Bee Balm)
Muscari (Grape Hyacinth)
Myosotis (Forget Me Not)
Narcissus (Daffodil)
Nepeta (Catmint)
Oenothera (Evening Primrose, Sundrops)
Origanum (Ornamental Oregano)
Ornithogalum (Star of Bethlehem)
Pachysandra (Pachysandra)
Paeonia (Peony)
Panicum (Switch Grass)
Pennisetum alopecuroides (Fountain Grass) – tender
Penstemon (Beard-tongue)
Perovskia (Russian Sage)
Persicaria (Fleece Flower)
Phlox (Creeping Phlox-Subulata Group)
Physostegia virginiana (False Dragonhead)
Podophyllum (Mayapple)
Polemonium (Jacob’s Ladder)
Primula (Primrose)
Pulmonaria (Lungwort)
Ranunculus (Buttercup)
Rheum (Rhubarb)
Rodgersia (Roger’s-flower)
Ruta (Rue) – tender
Salvia (Sage)
Sanguinaria (Bloodroot)
Sanguisorba (Burnet)
Santolina (Lavender Cotton) – tender
Saponaria (Soapwort)
Scabiosa (Pincushion Flower)
Scilla (Siberian Squill)
Sempervivum (Hen and Chicks)
Smilacina (False Solomon’s Seal)
Solidago (Goldenrod)
Stachys byzantina (Lamb’s Ear)
Stylophorum (Celandine Poppy)
Symphytum (Comfrey)
Tanacetum vulgare (Tansy)
Thalictrum (Meadow Rue)
Thymus (Thyme)
Tiarella (Foamflower)
Tricyrtis (Toad Lily)
Trillium (Trillium)
Trollius (Globeflower)
Veronica (Speedwell)
Vinca (Periwinkle)
Waldsteinia / Geum (Barren Strawberry)
Yucca (Adam’s-needle)

ANNUALS

Ageratum (Floss Flower)
Antirrhinum (Snapdragon)
Borago (Borage)
Calendula (Pot Marigold)
Catharanthus (Vinca)
Cleome (Spider Flower)
Celosia (Cockscomb)
Consolida (Larkspur)
Cosmos (Cosmos)
Datura (Thorn Apple)
Dianthus (Pinks, Sweet William)
Gerbera (Transvaal Daisy)
Gomphrena (Globe Amaranth)
Heliotropium (Common Heliotrope)
Ipomoea (Morning Glory)
Lobelia (Edging Lobelia)
Lobularia (Sweet Alyssum)
Nicotiana (Flowering Tobacco)
Nierembergia (Cupflower)
Ocimum (Basil)
Pelargonium (Scented Geranium)
Portulaca (Moss Rose)
Salvia (Sage)
Senecio (Dusty Miller)
Tagetes (Marigold)
Tropaeolum (Nasturtium)
Verbena (Annual Verbena)
Zinnia (Zinnia)

WOODY PLANTS

Acer (Maple)
Amelanchier (Juneberry)
Arctostaphyllos (Bearberry)
Berberis (Barberry)
Betula (Birch)
Buxus (Boxwood)
Campsis (Trumpet Vine)
Carpinus (Hornbeam)
Celastrus scandens (American Bittersweet)
Clethra (Summersweet)
Cornus (Dogwood)
Cotinus (Smoke Bush)
Cotoneaster (Cotoneaster)
Crataegus (Hawthorn)
Daphne (Daphne)
Deutzia (Deutzia)
Diervilla lonicera (Dwarf Bush Honeysuckle)
Forsythia (Golden Bells)
Fraxinus (Ash)
Ginkgo (Maidenhair Tree)
Gleditsia (Honeylocust)
Gymnocladus dioica (Coffeetree)
Hamamelis (Witchhazel)
Kerria (Kerria)
Larix (Larch)
Ligustrum (Privet)
Lonicera (Honeysuckle)
Magnolia (Magnolia)
Microbiota (Russian Cypress)
Myrica (Bayberry)
Paeonia (Tree Peony)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia Creeper)
Parthenocissus tricuspidata (Boston Ivy)
Philadelphus (Mock Orange)
Picea (Spruce)
Pinus nigra (Austrian Pine)
Pinus strobus (White Pine)
Pinus sylvestris (Scotch Pine)
Potentilla (Cinquefoil)
Pseudotsuga menziesii (Douglas Fir)
Quercus (Oak)
Rhus (Sumac)
Ribes (Currant, Gooseberry)
Robinia (Locust)
Sorbaria sorbifolia (Ash Leaf False Spirea)
Spiraea (Spirea)
Symphoricarpos (Snowberry)
Syringa (Lilac)
Ulmus (Elm)
Viburnum (Viburnum)
Vitis (Grape)
Weigela (Weigela)
Wisteria (Wisteria)

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