Hi dizzzzy,
It's always a good idea to check with your local nursery regarding the
hardiness of flowers and plants that can be grown in your area. At
the end of the information provided from various websites you'll see
Plant Hardiness Zone Maps, where you can view exactly what zone you
are in. Use those maps to pinpoint your Zone.
I'd like to draw your attention to the disclaimer at the bottom of this page:
"Important Disclaimer: Answers and comments provided on Google Answers
are general information, and are not intended to substitute for
informed professional advice."
Plants Deer Won't Eat - See Zones listed
http://www.mindspring.com/~paprwrk/plants.htm#deer
(The plants listed here won't always work in all areas. Check with
your local nurseries or your county extension service to find out
which plants work best in your area.)
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Horticultural FAQ's
http://www.bhwp.org/native/horticultural_faq.htm
Q. I need some recommendations for what I can plant that deer won't
eat. My property, formerly farmland, now is partially wooded, mostly
black locust, black walnut and a few poplars. Deer have devastated
most of the groundcover and understory shrubs. I'd like to reintroduce
native species into the wooded area.
A. You are not alone. In fact, questions about deer seem to be as
abundant as the deer themselves! Unfortunately, there is not much that
a deer won't eat, if they are hungry enough. For the shrub layer, you
might try spicebush (Lindera benzoin). For some color, add hardy
ageratum (Eupatorium coelestinum), which is available with blue or
white flowers. For the ground layer, try native ferns. For more
suggestions about what to plant, check our Native Plant Info Sheets,
"Deer Tolerant/Resistant Native Plants". Refer to "Plants That Are
Deer Favorites", for ones to avoid.
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Welcome to Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve! We'd like to tell you
who we are and what we do, and to show you the wealth of native plant
resources we offer.
BOWMAN'S HILL WILDFLOWER PRESERVE
P.O. Box 685
New Hope, Pennsylvania 18938-0685
(215) 862-2924 Fax (215) 862-1846
www.bhwp.org bhwp@bhwp.org
Plants That Are Deer Favorites - AVOID THESE
http://www.bhwp.org/native/native_plant_info_sheets/Plants_That_Are_Deer_Favorites.pdf
The following is a list of plants that are sometimes or often eaten by
deer, taken from a combination of staff observation over a period of
years and several existing lists of favorite deer plants. However, it
should be noted that favorite plants in one area may be left untouched
in another. Deer will eat ANYTHING if they are hungry enough. See the
other side for a list of plants that deer tend to leave alone.
Herbaceous plants:
Clematis
Cranesbill geranium
Crocus
Daylily
Echinacea spp.
Hollyhock
Hosta
Impatiens
Iris
Ivy, English
Lily
Meadow rue
Mexican sunflower
Pansy
Peony
Phlox
Rose
Sedum
Sunflower
Trillium
Tulip
Wood Hyacinth
Trees and
Shrubs:
Apple
Azalea
Cherry
Clematis
Dogwood,
Cornelian
Eastern redbud
Fir, Balsam
Fir, Fraser
Hemlock
Norway maple,
Rhododendron
Yew
*****
Deer Tolerant/Resistant Native Plants - TRY THESE
http://www.bhwp.org/native/native_plant_info_sheets/Deer_Tolerant_Resistant_Native_Plants.pdf
There are no truly deer resistant or tolerant plants; any plant when
eaten repeatedly will eventually succumb. Deer will eat ANYTHING if
they are hungry enough. Also, plants left untouched in one area may be
a favorite in another.
Nevertheless, the following list is a compilation of native plant
species taken from a combination of staff observation over a period of
years and several existing lists of deerproof plants. Check the
companion list for plants that deer generally prefer.
Herbaceous plants:
Aconitum uncinatum (monkshood)
Actaea spp. (doll?s eyes)
Agastache scrophulariifolia (giant purple hyssop)
Agrimonia parviflora (small agrimony)
Allium cernuum/A. tricoccum (wild onion/leek)
Amsonia hubrectii+/tabernaemontana (blue star)
Andropogon gerardii (big bluestem)
Aquilegia canadensis (wild columbine)
Arisaema spp. (Jack-in-the-pulpit)
Aruncus dioicus (goat?s beard)
*Asarum canadense (wild ginger)
Asclepias spp. (butterflyweed, milkweed)
*Aster novae-angliae (New England aster)
Aster oblongifolius (aromatic aster)
Baptisia australis (blue false indigo)
Cimicifuga racemosa (black cohosh)
*Clematis virginiana (Virgin?s-bower)
Coreopsis lanceolata +/C. tripteris (tickseed)
Coreopsis rosea (rose coreopsis)
Dicentra eximia (fringed bleeding-heart)
Euphorbia corollata (flowering spurge)
Fern species
Geranium maculatum (wood geranium)
Helenium autumnale (Helen?s flower)
Hibiscus moscheutos (swamp rose-mallow)
Iris versicolor (blue flag iris)
Jeffersonia diphylla (twin-leaf)
Liatris spicata (dense blazing star)
*Lobelia siphilitica (great blue lobelia)
Mimulus ringens/M. alatus (monkey flower)
Monarda fistulosa (wild bergamot)
Panicum virgatum (switch grass)
Penstemon digitalis/P. hirsutus (beardtongue)
Phlox divaricata (blue wood phlox)
Phlox stolonifera (creeping phlox)
Physostegia virginiana (obedient plant)
*Podophyllum peltatum (may-apple)
Polemonium reptans (Jacob?s-ladder)
Rudbeckia fulgida/R. hirta (black-eyed Susan)
Scutellaria incana (skullcap)
Solidago spp. (goldenrods)
Symplocarpus foetidus (skunk-cabbage)
Verbena hastata (blue vervain)
Veronicastrum virginicum (Culver?s-root)
Trees and Shrubs
Acer spp. (maple)
Amelanchier spp. (service berry)
Betula spp. (birch)
Calycanthus floridus (Carolina allspice)
Carpinus spp. (hornbeam)
Clethra alnifolia (summersweet)
Dirca palustris (leatherwood)
Fagus spp. (beech)
Fraxinus spp. (ash)
Gleditsia triacanthos (honeylocust)
Hamamelis spp. (witchhazel)
Hypericum prolificum (Shrubby St. John?s-wort)
Hypericum pyramidatum (Great St. John?s-wort)
Leucothoe racemosa (fetterbush)
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Liquidambar styraciflua (sweet gum)
Lonicera sempervirens (trumpet honeysuckle)
*Magnolia spp.
Myrica pensylvanica (bayberry)
Nyssa sylvatica (sourgum)
Quercus spp. (oak) - acorns attract deer, however
Viburnum spp.
+ = Not native to Pennsylvania *=Plants periodically browsed at
Bowman?s Hill Wildflower Preserve
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Oh Deer! by Gail DaPont
http://www.lib.virginia.edu/science/sciscan/rhododendrons/ran0004/gardens.htm#Deet
"And now the compromise... I have had to disregard my passion for any
particular plant. It would be nice to have a lovely cottage garden
vibrant with color. Instead I have "tittle squirts" of color from
rhododendrons, irises, and dahlias the deer have chosen to ignore. It
has become a challenge to plant for leaf color and texture instead of
the flowers as deer often carefully nibble off the flowers leaving the
plant foliage untouched. Here is an obvious compromise, they get the
flowers, and I get the foliage! There are also some plants in my
garden I would not have chosen but for the fact that the deer won't
eat them.
Raising my tolerance level was a lesson teamed early on. I found that
no matter what, when a new plant goes in the ground, the deer are
going to come along and sample it. It's like fried eel, if you didn't
taste it, how would you know if it's the food for you? It's the same
with these critters. If I put something in the ground that won't be
able to take a few nibbles I put a screen cover over it for the first
year. After that it's sink or swim. I buy plants off the $1 table or
on sale and I am willing to try others' discards. I have been
pleasantly surprised that a ground cover is thriving, or have said to
myself "Well, that one won't work" as I view the remains of an entire
plant that has disappeared overnight. I'll admit that I've been
disappointed, but a plant loss provides the opportunity to try yet
another, which isn't such a bad thing, is it?"
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HOME MONTHLY: APRIL 2003
http://www.acorn-online.com/hmonthly/home864h.htm
You never know what?s around the corner in Margit?s garden by Jeannette Ross
There are a lot of things Margit Von Fekete could be doing flying
planes in the Caribbean, running her own retail boutique, capitalizing
on the spa industry all of which she has done and enjoyed. But today
her heart is in gardening, landscaping to be precise.
It is a competitive business to be sure, and through her business,
Margit Exterior Design, she has focused on a few specialties: exotic
plants, poolscapes, nightscapes, perennial/annual beds, and feng shui
in the garden. What Margit does not do, and she tells you this right
up front, is worry about deer.
"If you want to have a perfect landscape, you have to forget the deer
and go on a spraying program," she said. "Because otherwise, you have
nothing to work with." The list of plants deer won?t eat grows smaller
each year, she said with a resigned shrug, and unless you can be
content with daffodils, grasses, and a few other things, you will have
to go head to head with the local herd.
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Gardening in Shade By Marge Talt
http://www.suite101.com/discussion.cfm/222/282
Glad you got your hemlocks in. They are lovely trees; just keep them
moist when it gets dry in summer and keep an eye out for that dratted
wooley aldegid!
Well, I didn't know Arrow bamboo, so did a bit of a search on it. It's
rated hardy to 0ºF and I think you're in USDA z 6, which is 0ºF to
-10ºF, so it might do from a hardiness standpoint, esp. if you're
seeing it in your area.
I'd take Kirk up on his suggestion and email that nursery owner, plus,
check out Mid Atlantic Bamboo's site; they list bamboo by hardiness,
use, shade/sun tolerance, etc. and that might be of interest to you.
From their site, the arrow bamboo looks like it would get taller than
what you're talking about.
My experience with my bamboo - an aggressive runner - is that you
really can't control it except by digging it out periodically, which
is a heck of a job, particlularly where there are tree roots.
My bamboo was moved from a previous residence and took several years
to settle down and get established, but when it did, Boy! Katie bar
the door!
It is evergreen; it is lovely; deer do not eat it; it provides an
everlasting supply of bamboo stakes and posts, but it is rampant as
all get out. It has gone down under our railroad tie retaining wall
and wants to come up in the parking area...like 3' tall wall:-)
Mine grows among trees and in considerable shade, but it also gets
easily 30' tall so rises above some of the trees. It also wants to
bend out to light in some places.
In my experience, any plant trying to compete with about any maple is
going to come out second best...maple roots are close to the surface
and incredibly greedy - they have probably filled all the ground
around them pretty well:-) You'll find that out when you try to dig
among them to plant something.
I'm not against bamboo, I just want you to realize what you're getting
into if you plant it. It can be contained, but that takes persistant
and continual work. Bamboo roots are tough to dig up.
As for other suggestions....hmmm....I'm trying to think of something
the deer won't eat. One plant that is native and that they do not eat
is Lindera benzoin, the spice bush. It is, however, deciduous. It
tolerates considerable shade and can get 12 or more feet tall, but
doesn't tend to do this in deep shade - more like 6 feet. Rather
inconspicuous very early greenish yellow flowers and very nice yellow
fall color. I have hundreds of those guys. If we have a decent season
this year, could send you seed if you remind me.
Deer tend to leave hollies alone and they're evergreen. Different ones
have different shade tolerances. The native Ilex opaca in my woods
grow in considerable shade amongst trees - but slowly.
Now,just thought of something. One of my favorite mahonias - Mahonia
bealei, leatherleaf mahonia. Dirr isn't crazy about it, but I am. From
a seedling, it will reach about 3' in as many years and grow fairly
slowly to 10' or so if you don't prune it. From seedlings, they'll be
about 4'-5' tall in 10 years. Grows under trees in shade very well.
Native to China, but birds have sown the seed in my woods and I
transplant every one I can find. Evergreen with yellow flowers in
early spring turning into light blue berries (Chris Lindsey has some
pix of these on the hort.net gallery)...really, really nice shrub,
IMO. Rated hardy z5a-10b, so you should be able to grow it.
Fantastic Plants lists 2 sizes of them. I have not ordered from them,
but have seen positive comments on a few mailing lists.
You might consider creating a mixed shrub border instead of trying to
find one plant to use as a hedge - that way you could combine some of
the slower growing evergreens with faster growing deciduous plants,
plus, you'd have a more interesting and lower care "hedge" in the
end:-)
Here are some others you might consider. I know some are deer
resistant; don't know about all of them:
Aronia melanocarpa, black chokeberry. 6-8'. White flowers, red-black
berries, red autumn color. Said to grow well in almost any soil and
moisture conditions. Native to the eastern U.S.
Aronia arbutifolia red chokeberry. 6-10' tall; sun to light shade, z.
4-9, average soil, blooms early spring; native. Upright, multi-stemmed
shrub, native, small white flowers; red berries
Amelanchier canadensis, shadblow serviceberry. Multi-stemmed shrub to
15'; white flowers, berries change from red to black, good for the
edge of the woods.
Clethra acuminata, cinnamon bark Clethra. 8-12', sun to moderate
shade, z. 5-8, avg. soil, native, white flowers in early summer;
peeling cinnamon colored bark.
Barberries are generally deer resistant. I have some in considerable
shade. They grow but don't bloom much and if they are supposed to have
purple foliage, it's green in shade. They also have thorns, so serve
as good barriers. I'm quite taken with the flowers, myself. Here are a
couple that might work:
Berberis julianae, wintergreen barberry. Grows in a dense mound to 5',
Makes a great barrier or hedge.
Berberis x wisleyensis (triacanthophora). Three-spined barberry.
Graceful shrub to 5'. Sun or shade.
Leucothoe fontanesiana, drooping leucothoe, grows in shade and is said
to be deer resistant. I've had them and lost them and have one now -
'Rainbow' - that seems to be doing well. Lovely plants, but may need
more attention than you want to give to the planting, soil, and
watering.
I find Spirea spp. to be deer proof in my garden; my herd never
touched mine. While they want sun to bloom, I have some that put
themselves in right much shade and still bloom, so you might look at
some of them for the outer edges where you get more sun. They tolerate
about any conditions, I think, as mine seed into my gravel drive and
survive!:
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Zone Maps:
The Plant Hardiness Zones divide the United States and Canada into 11
areas based on a 10 degree Fahrenheit difference in the average annual
minimum temperature. (The United States falls within Zones 2 through
10). For example, the lowest average temperature in Zone 2 is -50 to
-40 degrees Fahrenheit, while the minimum average temperature in zone
10 is +30 to +40 degrees Fahrenheit.
Suggested hardiness zones have been indicated for all trees and
perennials available online from the Foundation. If a range of zones,
for example, zones 4-9, is indicated, the tree or perennial is known
to be hardy in zones 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. Suitable hardiness means a
plant can be expected to grow in the zone's temperature extremes, as
determined by the lowest average annual temperature.
Keep in mind that local variations such as moisture, soil, winds, and
other conditions might affect the viability of individual plants.
USDA Hardiness Zone Map
http://www.thegardenlink.com/html/USDA_map.htm
Use the map below to locate your plant hardiness zone.
If the map does not show enough detail for you, click here:
http://www.arborday.org/TreeInfo/ZoneLookup.cfm?CFID=372414&CFTOKEN=43188366
to look up your hardiness zone by zip code at the National Arbor Day
Foundation web site.
*****
Home & Garden - Find Your Zone
http://www.ivillage.com/home/garden/zone/
Keyword search:
deer resistant flowers + plants NE United States
NE United States deer won't eat
deer avoid flowers + plants NE United States
gardening zone maps
hardiness zone map
USDA Hardiness Zone map
plants deer won't eat
flowers deer won't eat
Best regards,
tlspiegel |
