California Deer Resistant Plants and Repellents
Don't get mad, get informed. Learn about deer resistant plants and other strategies for co-existing with deer in your garden.- Deer-Resistant Plants for the Sierra Foothills (Zone 7), Compiled by Cooperative Extension - A Gardener's Guide to Preventing Deer Damage [PDF], California Department of Fish and Game - Master Gardener, U.C. Davis - Deer Resistant, Mostly Native Plants Nursery - Deer-Resistant Plants for the Sierra Foothills (Zone 7), Compiled by Cooperative Extension - A Gardener's Guide to Preventing Deer Damage [PDF], California Department of Fish and Game - Genevieve Schmidt : North Coast Gardening : Arcata, CA - Susan Morrison : Blue Planet Garden Blog : East Bay, CA Native northern California plants that are deer resistant: sea thrift (Armeria), wallflowers (Erysimum), iris, sandhill sage (Artemisia pycnocephala), lupines. Also: iris, lamb's ear, lavender. All grasses are deer resistant. Hydrangeas ...are the hot new flower for floral arrangements and wedding bouquets. And, according to the Vintage Gardens website (www.vintagegardens.com), dried hydrangea flowers are also very popular. They should be picked and allowed to dry gradually, and then can be used to make long-lasting floral displays.Deer don't seem to like eating them, except for the oakleaf varieties. Shrubby euphorbias, or spurges...the milky white sap that bleeds from the plant when the stems are cut can cause an irritation, but is why deer do not eat them. Attractive deer resistant plants: Rhododendrons, daffodils, Mexican sage, Lithodora and hellebores. Herbs that are too pungent for deer: Rosemary, thyme, scented geranium, lavender, salvia, tulbaghia and cat mint. Deer prefer succulent and woody plants and rarely eat ornamental grasses and grasslike plants such as carex and members of the restio family. Woody-based sages such as Salvia greggii and S. microphylla, potato bush and vine (Solanum crispum and S. rantonnetii), westringia, aromatic shrub marigolds (Tagetes) and curry plant (Helichrysum italicum), berberis, nandina, boxwood (Buxus), nearly all conifers, and oleander (Nerium) flourish in sun. For shade, sweet box (Sarcococca) and Mexican orange (Choisya). List of Deer Resistant Plants Acer palmatum, Japanese maple Acer negundo, Box Elder Achillea, Yarrow Agastache, Anise hyssop, Hummingbird mint Ajuga, Carpet bugle Allium, Wild onion Aquilegia formosa, Western Columbine Artemisia Asclepias, Butterfly weed Asters Berberis thunbergii, Barberry Berlandiera lyrata, Chocolate Scented Daisy Brachycome multifida, Rock Daisy Buddleia, Butterfly bush Campanula, Bellflower Carpenteria, California anemone Ceanothus, Wild lilac Cerastium tomentosa, Snow-in-Summer Centranthus ruber, Jupiter's beard Chamaecyparis, False Cypress Chrysanthemum parthenium, Golden feverfew Cercis occidentalis, California Redbud Cistus, Rockrose Chrysanthemum maximum, Shasta Daisy Chrysanthemum paludosum, Ox-eye Daisy Coreopsis, Tickseed Cotoneaster Dahlia Delphinium Diascia, Twinspur Dicentra formosa, Western bleeding heart Digitalis, Foxglove Dudleya cymosa Hen & Chicks Echinacea, Cone flower Epilobium, California fuschia Erigeron karvinskianus, Mexican daisy Erysimum, Wallflower Eschscholzia californica California Poppy Euphorbia, Spurge Ferns Gaillardia grandiflora, Indian Blanket Grass and grass-like plants Helichrysum Helleborus, Hellebores Hemerocallis, Day lily Heuchera, Coral Bells Hypericum, St. Johnswort Hyssopus, Hyssop Iris Laurentia fluviatilis, Blue Star Creeper Lavandula, Lavender Lilium, Asiatic Lily Lonicera, Honeysuckle Lupinus albifrons, Silver bush lupine Lysimachia nummularia, Creeping Jenny Mahonia, Oregon grape Mentha, Mint Miscanthus sinensis, Maiden Grass Monarda didyma, Bee Balm Monardella, Coyote mint Myrtus, Myrtle Narcissus, Daffodils Nepeta, Catmint Nigella damascena, Love in a Mist Nicotiana, Flowering tobacco Origanum, Oregano Oxalis oregana, Redwood sorrel Papaver, Poppy Peony Perovskia, Russian sage Phlomis, Jerusalem sage Phlox subulata, Creeping Phlox Picea glauca, Alberta Spruce Potentilla, Cinquefoil Pyracantha, Firethorn Rhododendron Romneya coulteri, Matilija poppy Rosmarinus, Rosemary Rudbeckia hirta, Gloriosa Daisy Sage Salvia apiana, White sage Salvia ‘Bee’s Bliss’ Salvia clevelandii, Cleveland sage Salvia leucophylla, Gray sage Salvia mellifera, Black sage Salvia sonomensis, Sonoma sage Salvia spathacea, Hummingbird sage Santolina, Lavender cotton Sedum Senecio, Dusty miller Sisyrinchium bellum, Blue-eyed grass Solanum, Potato vine Spiraea, Spirea Stachys, Lamb’s ears Syringa vulgaris, Common Lilac Tagetes lemmonii, Mexican bush marigold Teucrium, Germander Thymus, Common thyme Umbellularia californica, California bay Verbascum, Mullein Verbena bonariensis, Tall Verbena Veronica, Speedwell Vitex agnus-castus, Chaste tree the Holly Leaf Mountain lilac, the Blue Jeans variety of hybridized California lilac is a deer-resistant variety Mexican and other sages Acorus Gramineus Rosemary Creeping lantana Yuka Coleonema Lavender Daphne Miscanthus and many other ornamental grasses Sedum (and all other succulents/cactus) Japanese boxwood Phormiums Loropetalum “Plum Delight” Polystickum ferns Santolina Tulbaghia violacea “variegate” Rhododendrons Sasanqua Camellias Oak leaf Hydrangeas |