Top Picks for Creating a Deer Resistant Garden

                          Top Picks for creating a Deer Resistant Garden
Annuals Perennials
Ageratum Artemesia
Alyssum – annual & perennial Cranesbill geranium – Geranium sanquineum
Begonia Coral Bells – Heuchera
Coleus Coreopsis
Marigold Dicentra – Bleeding Heart
Monarda Helleborus – Hellebore (Lenten Rose)
Rudbeckia (Black Eyed Susan) Hibiscus – annual, perennial & tropical
Salvia – annual & perennial Nepeta – Catmint
Dusty Miller Sage – Salvia
Zinnia Spiderwort – Tradescantia
Bulbs/Rhizomes Shrubs/Trees
Allium Barberry
Daffodil Japanese Maple
Iris Hibiscus – a.k.a. Rose-of-Sharon
Hyacinth Holly
Lilac
Viburnum
                 Vines                         Groundcovers
Bittersweet (Celastrus) Black Lily Turf – Ophiopogon
Clematis Lamium –  Deadnettle
Honeysuckle Lily of the Valley
Porcelain Berry Vine (Ampelopsis) Lilyturf – Liriope muscari & punctata
Silver Fleece Vine (Polygonum aubertii) Pachysandra
Trumpet Vine (campis Radicans) Vinca minor (Myrtle, Periwinkle)
Wisteria (Chinese sinensis)
Grass Ferns
Bouteloua c. – Sideoats Grama Adiantum p. – Maiden Hair Fern
Chasmanthium latifolium – Inland Sea Oats Cyrtomium f. – Holly Fern
Festuca o. ‘glauca’ – Blue Fescue Dryopteris – sp. Wood Fern
Miscanthus sp. – Chinese Silver Grass Matteuccia p. – Ostrich Fern
Pennisetum o.  –  Fountain Grass
Pennisetum – Annual Fountain Grass

Please note that a starving deer will eat just about anything once their habitat has been depleted of their natural food during a severe weather. The plants listed above are our top picks but no plant is 100% deer resistant. Deer tend to avoid plants with pungent, fuzzy, or prickly leaves. Once idea might be to intermingle pungent herbs into your annual and perennial beds . Chances are if the plant smells bad to you, the deer may avoid them too.