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Flowers deer proof


31 Best-Deer Resistant Flowers and Plants to Grow

These varieties stand up to deer with beautiful blooms

By

Jamie McIntosh

Jamie McIntosh

Jamie McIntosh has written about gardening and special occasion flowers for the Spruce since 2011. She has more than 20 years of experience caring for flowers and plants. She was a feature writer for Organic Gardening at Suite101, where she won awards for her writing.

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Updated on 11/02/22

Reviewed by

Debra LaGattuta

Reviewed by Debra LaGattuta

Debra LaGattuta is a gardening expert with three decades of experience in perennial and flowering plants, container gardening, and raised bed vegetable gardening. She is a Master Gardener and lead gardener in a Plant-A-Row, which is a program that offers thousands of pounds of organically-grown vegetables to local food banks. Debra is a member of The Spruce Gardening and Plant Care Review Board.

Learn more about The Spruce's Review Board

Fact checked by

Alexandra Kay

Fact checked by Alexandra Kay

Alexandra Kay is a writer, fact-checker, researcher, and editor who checks The Spruce articles for accuracy and adds source citations. Alex frequently writes for b2b and b2c publications. When she isn't writing or fact-checking for print or online articles, Alex is an associate professor of English at a community college.

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The Spruce / Leticia Almeida

Deer have become a major irritant to suburban and exurban gardeners, leading more homeowners to seek out deer-resistant flowers and plants and avoid the headache of dealing with half-eaten flora and greenery. The animals are more prevalent due to human encroachment on their territory and attracted to the soft, easy-to-find vegetation most people prefer in their gardens. There are many ways to rid your garden of deer, but many of these solutions are ineffective, expensive, or distasteful enough to deter the gardener as much as the deer. If you cannot keep deer away from the garden, you can plant annuals or perennials that deer won't eat.

Lavender, poppies, daffodils, vincas, and bleeding hearts are among the spring and summer flowering plants that deer hate the most. Many deer-resistant flowers for pots or container gardens to consider are coneflowers, daffodils, and verbena. Meanwhile, some flowering bushes that deer do not eat include rose of Sharon and butterfly bush.

Flowers that keep away deer are often overly fragrant, toxic, or have a rough or odd texture. If you're wondering what smell deer hate the most, marigold, sage, and lavender are among the smelliest to deer. Deer do not eat marigolds or zinnias but if you have magnolias, shelter them from deer; they favor magnolia blooms.

Read on for details about many more deer-resistant flower and plant options for sun, shade, and various seasons.  

Tip

As you plan your garden, look carefully at the sun and soil requirements for each of these plants. There's a good chance you'll be able to create a deer-proof garden that will bloom from early spring to late summer.

11 Deer-Resistant Flower Bulbs for Your Garden

Article Sources

The Spruce uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

  1. Deer-Tolerant Ornamental Plants. University of Georgia Extension

  2. Krzyżanowska-Kowalczyk, Justyna, et al. Pulmonaria Obscura and Pulmonaria Officinalis Extracts as Mitigators of Peroxynitrite-Induced Oxidative Stress and Cyclooxygenase-2 Inhibitors–In Vitro and In Silico Studies.  Molecules, vol. 26, no. 3, Jan. 2021, p. 631. DOI.org (Crossref), doi:10.3390/molecules26030631.

  3. Plants. California Poison Control System (CPCS).

  4. Landscape Plants Rated by Deer Resistance. Rutgers University School of Environmental and Biological Sciences.

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Deer Resistant Plants and Flowers

Deer-resistant plants make beautiful and hardy additions to pest-prone gardens and landscapes. Gardeners in rural and semi-rural areas often have to deal with animals invading their gardens. Squirrels dig up bulbs, rabbits eat vegetables, and deer nibble almost everything. Luckily, we have a wide selection of flowering deer-resistant plants.

What kind of plants will deer not eat?

The plants most resistant to browsing deer are those with inedible foliage or highly aromatic flowers. Luckily, there is enough variety among these types that you can find deer-resistant flowering plants suitable for every

hardiness zone

from 2 to 10 and every sun exposure. There are also plenty of choices in heights, colours and bloom times.

What deer-resistant flowers should be planted each season?

Deer are especially hungry in the spring, so consider filling your spring garden with deer-resistant Dutch bulbs like

hyacinth

,

daffodils

and

irises

. For the summer, choose plants with feathery foliage and less appetizing blossoms such as poppies,

begonias

, astilbe, and a variety of coneflowers. Feathery or ruffled flowers also seem to repel deer, so consider plants like queen of the prairie, goatsbeard and sea holly. Prevent deer from grazing in your fall garden with a mix of beautiful

dahlias

, toad lilies and hyssops.

What are some of the most popular deer-resistant plants?

Many popular deer-resistant plants are highly scented, particularly

alliums

, sages, and similar plants, such as salvia, Russian sage, catmint, and lavender. These flowering plants all have gorgeous flowers and fragrant foliage that bees and butterflies love.
Don't despair when you find that deer have discovered your garden. Plant some of these beauties where the deer like to browse and watch them turn up their noses.

Gardening with deer-resistant plants

Gardening can be quite a challenge with deer around, but intelligent plant selection can enable you to have a gorgeous garden even in areas with high deer populations. With a delightfully wide range of deer resistant plants to choose from, the act of deer-proofing your garden actually allows you the opportunity to experiment with plants and combinations you might not have tried before!

Deer can find their way through some of the cleverest barriers and fencing mechanisms and will consume almost every plant they can reach, especially when food is scarce or their numbers are too high. However, they do tend to avoid plants that are toxic, have a strong fragrance, leathery texture and fuzzy or prickly foliage. That gives you plenty of amazingly beautiful, colorful and aromatic options to pick from! The rich scent of plants like Bee Balm, Sage and Salvia makes them a wonderful option for your deer-proof garden. Deer are also likely to steer clear of Daffodils, Helleborus, and other plants with toxic foliage, along with the hairy/fibrous foliage of Yarrow, Peonies, Elephant Ears, and most Irises. Check our selection of deer deterring plants for the most suitable and attractive options for your garden.

flower - Prioksko-Terrasny State Natural Biosphere Reserve

The expression "Deer-flower" is very suitable for the most beautiful of deer - Sika deer . In summer, the body of this deer is covered with bright red-brown hair with large white spots. In winter, the coat is not so bright - brown-brown, and the spots are almost invisible. This species deer historically lived in Altai and the Far East. He lives in the wild, and he is also bred in special deer farms. There they receive antlers - not yet ossified, covered with wool horns, from which medicine is produced. In the European part sika deer people resettled. In our reserve they appeared a long time ago. It was said that the first animals were kept in an enclosure at the central gate of bison nursery. Then they ran away from the enclosure and stayed in the nature reserve . Remains of the mesh fence of the deer enclosure still remained in the early 80s. Deer constantly visited the free feeding area, where they fed bison . They met in the forest near the nursery, and went to the central estate of the reserve . Sometimes, whistling so as not to startle deer , I followed the herd through the forest to take pictures. Bison were no longer released into the wild, the feeding area was closed, and deer went deep into the forest.

In 2011, three spotted deer were brought to us: two females and a male. They were placed in a small enclosure built inside a large enclosure where 90,003 90,004 bison families lived. Guests reserve and we watched these almost tame reindeer . The birth and growth of deer took place before our eyes. The shedding of horns in males in spring, and the appearance of young antlers - antlers, their growth and change in shape in summer - this also aroused interest. Many pictures of deer were taken at this time. A few years later, an adult male and several young females born and raised with us were sent to another farm. We have three animals left: one young male, who could not be caught for shipment, and two females of different ages. nine0003 Deer were not held by a two-meter fence, they jumped over it and ended up in a large paddock along with bison . Several times they were brought back, but they ran away again. In winter they fed together with bison , and in the spring they went beyond nursery and became completely free. In the wild, they had deer . With the baby, they sometimes came to central estate . On the territory of reserve , naturally, other spotted deer . Several separate groups constantly met in the forest, sometimes it was possible to see them, but I did not have pictures. And then one day, together with video operator Mikhail Rodionov, on a frosty day, at the edge of the forest, we managed to observe and film a herd of spotted deer . This group included females with deer of different ages. Some of the photos taken by Mikhail can be seen on the page of the reserve in You Tube, under the heading “From the archive of the reserve”.

In the spring, a group of 9 came out to the pond formed by the beaver dam0003 reindeer . Seven males of different ages, all with horns, and not a single female. The animals went to shallow water, where they plucked young marsh grass. Several times they ran away into the forest, but returned again, and only when it got dark did they go up the river. A few days later the same group of males met in the center of the reserve . One of the adult deer has already shed its antlers, and the rest are still with antlers. Despite the fact that I did not make any noise and tried not to move, deer were disturbed by something, and some of them looked in my direction, stamped their front feet, and made sounds in the form of a whistle. All this was captured on video ...

Alexander Kulichenko

From the archive of the reserve

Sika deer in spring

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The deer is an auspicious symbol associated with the Sun, sunrise, light, purity, renewal, rebirth, creation and spirituality. Due to the resemblance of deer antlers to branches, the image of a deer is associated with the Tree of Life. In addition, deer antlers symbolize the sun's rays, fertility. An adult male deer is a solar emblem of abundance.
Like the eagle and the lion, the deer is the eternal enemy of the snake; symbolically it is associated with the sky and light, while the snake is associated with night and life underground. A deer in a fight with a snake symbolizes the conflict between positive and negative, light and darkness
Like an eagle and a horse, a deer is an intermediary between heaven and earth, a messenger of the gods. Hittite, Sumerian-Semitic and Shinto deities moved on deer, deer were harnessed to the carts of Time and Christmas.
The most characteristic signs of a deer are swiftness, grace and beauty; maybe that's why the deer is associated with poetry and music.
In medieval art in the West, the deer symbolized solitude and purity, and in Japanese poetry - loneliness and love yearning.
The Chinese mean happiness and longevity, the white male deer symbolizes Shou-Xin, the god of longevity. In addition, the deer is associated with wealth and good luck, the word "deer" in China is consonant with the word "abundance". nine0100 The ancient Maya called themselves Ah-Maya, "People of the Deer". This animal was considered the main tribal great-ancestor and therefore a sacred animal. The constellation of the Deer (Capricorn) among the Mayans was associated with the new year, the next stage in life. This month it was recommended to focus only on earthly concerns. It was believed that as soon as they managed to live through the month of the active Deer, this would be the whole year. It was believed that those born this month are distinguished, on the one hand, by their connection with traditions, and on the other hand, by the desire for something new, for the improvement of the existing. During this month, the ancient Maya turned to the priests for predictions or they themselves were engaged in divination. nine0100 Among the Celts, the deer is a symbol of the Sun, fertility and vitality, dignity, masculinity, speed, a mediator between the world of the gods and the world of people. The Celts believed that the deer was the main animal in the magical herds of the gods. Deer antlers were considered a symbolic representation of the branches of a tree. Branches of horns, like branches and leaves on trees, were considered symbols of rebirth and reproduction. The Celtic god Cernunnos, associated with the cycles of dying and rebirth of nature, was depicted with branched antlers or with a deer and a bull standing at his feet. The legends feature a white deer, which was for the Celts a mystical animal that appeared on earth from the Other World and possessed the gift of wisdom and omniscience. nine0100 In Norse mythology, four deer nibble the leaves of the world tree Yggdrasil. In addition, the deer Eikturmir ("with oak-tipped horns") and the goat Heidrun eat its leaves while standing on the roof of Valhalla.
In the Greco-Roman tradition, a deer is an attribute of Artemis (Diana). Angered by Artemis, the hunter Actaeon was turned into a deer for seeing her bathing.
In Christian symbolism, the deer represents religious fervor and zeal, as the converts were hungry for knowledge ". ..as a deer yearns to reach a cool stream to drink." It is in this meaning that the deer is depicted on baptismal fonts, as well as in religious painting - drinking at the foot of the cross. In Christian iconography, a deer trampling a snake is the emblem of a Christian fighting evil. Some saints are depicted with a deer as their attribute, for example, a deer with a crucifix between its horns is the emblem of Saint Hubert. nine0100 In alchemy, the deer together with the unicorn signify the dual nature of Mercury, philosophical mercury. Alchemists see in the ancient myth of the hunter Actaeon, who was turned into a deer by the goddess Artemis, proof of the possibility of transforming metals.
Among the Slavs, the deer was considered the personification of the ancestors. According to beliefs, he was able to perform various miracles, speak in a human voice. In ancient carols, deer, like horses, carry the souls of the dead to the other world. The deer was considered to be a royal animal: it rules over all horned animals.

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