List of Deer Resistant Perennials

Deer are beautiful athletic creatures often seen browsing on vegetation in suburban and rural landscapes. While they are fun and interesting to watch, they often damage expensive perennials planted for color and texture. The best way to prevent deer damage is by planting deer resistant perennials that deer will avoid as long as there are other more desirable plants available for the deer to browse.

Plumbago (Ceratostigma plumbaginoides) it a reliable bloomer and can be trained into a small shrub or allowed to sprawl. The stems grow to 10 feet long and produce clusters of blue or white flowers. It grows best in well-drained acidic soil. While it is evergreen in frost-free locations, it will return from the root system in the spring if killed to the ground by frost. Plumbago performs best if planted in full sun.

Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia) is a drought and cold tolerant deciduous perennial with feathery foliage and long wiry stems. The foliage is highly aromatic and repels insects as well as deer. The flowers of the Russian sage are blue or purple. It prefers to grow in chalky or alkaline soils in full sun but will adapt to any well-drained soil.

Veronica or speedwell (Veronica spp.) is a perennial plant with tough leaves and elegant flower spikes that grow to 24 inches tall. The flowers may be white, purple, red or pink depending on the variety. The flowers of a Veronica plant are often used in cut flower arrangements. Veronica is easily started by seed or by dividing the root sections in the fall.

Yarrow (Achillea spp.) is a native American plant that grows throughout the United States if given sufficient moisture in dry locations. There are low-growing varieties that produce red and pink flowers with soft feathery foliage and tall varieties that produce yellow or white umbrella-shaped 4-foot-tall flower spikes. In warmer locations, where summers are dry, yarrow becomes dormant in summer. It spreads by underground rhizomes and seed.

The columbine (Aquilegia spp.) produces clumps of foliage in the spring followed by unusual spiked flowers of yellow, orange, red or pink. A native American perennial, columbine thrives in deep moist soil or dry rocky locations. It is a perennial plant that forms a large bulbous root that is difficult to transplant.

Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) is a woody evergreen perennial that produces evergreen foliage and blue, pink or white flowers depending on the variety. It grows in full sun in any well-drained garden soil. There are many varieties with different growth habits available in the nursery trade. Some grow upright to 6 feet tall, while others sprawl along the ground. Rosemary is a culinary herb and makes a reliable border or specimen plant in dry and hot locations.