Plants that Deer Will Not Eat - Gloucester County Virginia

Plants that Deer Will Not Eat
(Most of the Time)

Shrubs Reported Rarely Damaged

Abelia (Abelia) Juniper (Juniperus spp.)
Alberta Spruce (Picea glauca albertiana) Laurel (Laurus spp.)
Barberry (Berberis spp.) Leucothoe (Leuchthoe spp.)
Beautyberry (Callicarpa spp.) Lilac (Syringa spp.)
Bird’s Nest Spruce (Picea abies ‘Nidformis’) Loropetalum (Loropetalum)
Bluebeard (Caryopteris x clandonensis) Magnolia (Magnolia spp.)
Boxwood (Buxus spp.) Mock Orange (Philadelphus spp.)
Butterfly Bush (Buddleia spp.) Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia)
Chaste Bush (Vitex) Nandina/Heavenly bamboo (Nandina

Cotoneaster (Cotoneaster spp.) domestica
Crape Myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica) Oregon Grape Holly (Mahonia aquifolium)
Daphne (Daphne spp.) Pieris (Pieris japonica)
Forsythia (Forsythia spp.) Poet’s Laurel (Danae racemosa)
Fothergilla (Fothergilla) Pyracantha/Firethorn (Pyracantha coccines)
Gardenia (Gardenia) Russian Olive (Elaeaganus angustifolia)
Holly: Scotch Broom (Cytisus scoparius)
Burford (ilex cornuta ‘Burfordii’) Spirea (Spiraea spp.)
Carissa (l. cornuta ‘Carissa’) St. Johnswort (Hypericum spp.)
Chinese (l. cornuta) Sweet Pepperbush (Clethra)
Compacta (l. crenata ‘Compacta’) Sweetshrub (Calycanthus floridus)
English (l. aquifolium) Viburnum:
Foster (l. x attenuate ‘Foster Holly’) Doublefile (V. plicatum f. tomentosum)
Greenleaf (l.opaca ‘Greenleaf’) Judd (V. x judii)
Helleri (l. crenata ‘ Helleri’) Koreanspice (V. carlesii)
Hetzi (l. crenata ‘Hetzi’) Shasta (V. plicatum f. tomentosum ‘Shasta’)
Inkberry (l. glabra) Wax Myrtle/Bayberry (Myrica cerifera)
Japenese (l. crenata) Weigelia (Weigelia florida)
Yaupon (llex vomitoria) Wisteria (Wisteria spp.)
Witch-hazel (Hamamelis spp.)

Annuals Reported Rarely Damaged

Ageratum/Floss flower (ageratum Four o’clock (Mirabilis jalapa)
Houstonianum)
Lantana (Lantana camara)
Annual pinks (Dianthus spp.) Larkspur (Consolida)
Annual vinca (Catharanthus roseus) Marigold (Tagetes spp.)
Blue Daze (Evolvus ‘Blue Daze’) Million Bells (Calibrachoa)
Browallia (Browallia Speciosa) Moss Rose (Portulaca)
Cockscomb (Celosia argentea) Pot Marigold (Calendula officinalis)
Coleus (Coleus) Scarlet Sage (Salvia splendens)
Cosmos (Cosmos spp.) Snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus)
Dusty Miller (Senecio cineraria) Spider Flower (Cleome)
Fairy Foam Flower (Scaevola) Sweet Allysum (Lobularia maritime)
Flowering Tobacco (Nicotiana) Zinnia (Zinnia)

Perennials Reported Rarely Damaged

Ajuga/Bugleweed (Ajuga reptans) Lavender (Lavendula spp.)
Artemesia (Artemesia spp.) Lavender cotton (Santolina spp.)
Basket of Gold (Alyssum saxatile) Monkshood (Aconitum spp.)
Beard Tongue (Penstemon sppl.) Obedient Plant (Physostegia virginiana)
Beebalm (Monarda spp.) Ornamental Grass:
Bellflower (Campanula spp.) Blue Fescue (Festuca ovina var. glauca)
Bergenia (Bergenia) Fountain grass (Pennisetum spp.)
Bleeding heart (Dicentra spp.) Pampas grass (Cortaderia selloana)
Blue Star (Amsonia spp.) Silver Grass (Miscanthus spp.)
Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis) Pachysandra (Pachysandra terminalis)
Catmint (Nepeta spp.) Peony (Paeonia spp.)
Christmas Rose, Lenten Rose (Helleborus spp.) Periwinkle (Vinca minor, Vinca major)
Clematis (Clematis spp.) Pincushion Flower (Scabiosa spp.)
Columbine (Aquilegia spp.) Pinks (Dianthus)
Cranesbill geranium (Geranium spp.) Plumbago (Ceratostigma plumbaginoides)

Creeping Phlox (Phlox stolinifera) Poppy (Papaver spp.)
False Indigo (Baptisia spp.) Purple Cone Flower (Echinacea purpurea)
Fern: Russian Sage (Pervoskia)
Christmas Fern (Polystichum acrostichoides) Sage (Salvia spp.)
Japanese Painter Fern ((Athyrium niponicum) Shasta Daisy (Leucanthemum x superbum)
Ostrich Fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris) Speedwell (Veronica spp.)
Southern Maidenhair Fern (Adiantum capillis) Spotted Dead Nettle (Lalmium masculatum)
Foamflower (Tiarella spp.) Stokes Aster (Stokesia Laevis)
Forget-me-not (Myosotis sylvatica) Sundrop (Oenopthera spp.)
Foxglove ()Digitalis) Tickseed (Coreopsis)
Geum (Geum spp.) Verbena (Verbena)
Heather (Calluna spp.) Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica)
Iris (Iris spp.) Virginia Spiderwort(Tradescantia virginiana)
Japanese Anemone (Anemone x hybrida) Yarrow (Achillea spp.)
Lamb’s Ears (Stachys byzantine) Yucca (Yucca)

Source:
James City County – Williamsburg Master Gardeners
Susceptibility of Plants to Deer Damage - 2003

DEER – RESISTANT PERENNIALS

Astilbe
Bee Balm
Black-eyed Susan
Blanket flower
Bleeding heart
Bellflower
Butterfly weed
Candytuft
Columbine
Cranesbill
Evening primrose
False Indigo

Foam flower
Foxglove
Ginger
Goldenrod
Hellebores

Japanese anemone
Lamb’s ear

Lily-of-the-valley
Pincushion flower

Primrose
Purple coneflower Russian sage

Spiderwort
Stokes’ aster

Tickseed
Toadflax
Thyme
Yarrow
Source: New York/Mid-Atlantic Gardener’s Book of Lists