a deer friendly garden

Marilyn’s garden in Surfside is a deer friendly rather than a deer resistant garden.  There are no attempts made to protect plants with fencing or cages or deer-repelling sprays.  Marilyn and her daughter Nancy have watched fawns be born in the thick of the plants in the garden.

in Marilyn’s garden, photo by Nancy Gorshe

photo by Nancy Gorshe

As we arrive for spring clean up in February 2016

Here I will show the plants that survive and bloom in Marilyn’s garden.  I have put the date of the photo so that you can see what the plants look like at different times of the year.

Meanwhile, you can see in past posts a slideshow of Marilyn’s garden through the year and more details about the garden.

Knautia macedonica, July 10

Lonicera ‘Baggeson’s Gold’ (boxleaf honeysuckle) July 10

Bronze Fennel (may be invasive, probably not advisable despite its beauty), July 10

Rosemary, July 10

Erysimum ‘Bowles Mauve’ (a young plant) with purple spikes, July 10

bunnytail grass, a Pennisetum (I think), July 10

Cosmos ‘Happy Ring’ and all other cosmos are rarely nibbled by deer.  July 10

Cosmos with Salvia viridis (painted sage), both annuals, July 10

more Cosmos

Juniperus scopularium ‘Moonglow’, July 10

I have been very impressed with how the above blue Juniper is so drought tolerant and does not get eaten.  Too bad that where I planted it, it only shows in winter!

Macleaya cordate (plume poppy), July 10

Echinops ritro (blue globe thistle) backed with plume poppy

One year the deer ate the plume poppy.  This year they have let it bloom.  It can be a runner and might annoy you in the long run, but I love it.

Echinops (blue globe thistle)

Vaccinium ovatum (evergreen huckleberry), July 10

Evergreen huckleberry is a wonderful native shrub.  It is very slow growing, so I wish there had been more than two large specimens along the back of Marilyn’s garden.

Ribes sanguineum…flowering currant..beloved of hummingbirds. July 10. Blooms early.

Hellebore…winter blooming. July 10

another hellebore, July 10

I seem to recall the deer may have eaten a few blossoms last winter, but usually this has been left alone.

sword fern, July 10

I find most ferns are left alone.

Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’, July 10

The deer did eat the blossoms of ‘Lucifer’ along the path.

Agastache (hyssop) comes in many lovely colours. July 10, with painted sage

Salvia viridis (painted sage), annual, comes in pink, blue, and white

As a rule I find all Salvias whether annual or perennial are left alone by deer.

Dianthus (pinks) don’t seem to be bothered, which is odd as the flowers are said to be edible.  July 10

Eryngium ‘Jade Frost’, July 10

Eryngium (sea hollies) are my favourite perennial.

Eryngium ‘Sapphire Blue’, July 10

Nicotiana langsdorfii, my favourite flowering tobacco, July 10

Knautia macedonica with magenta flowers, here with Cupressus macrocapra ‘Goldcrest Wilma’ which has not even been nibbled. July 10

Knautia ‘Thunder and Lightning’

Berberis ‘Helmond Pillar’, July 10. Barberries are very deer resistant.

Myrica, was myrtle, July 10

Allium albopilosum and Alchemilla mollis (lady’s mantle), July 10

Allium albopilosum (ornamental onion), July 10

I love all the alliums.  Albopilosum and schubertii are my favourites.

golden marjoram, July 10You will also find in Marilyn’s garden Oregano which the deer do not bother at all.

Santolina (lavender cotton). Wonderful plant, also comes in gold and green leaved forms. July 10

Another great silver plant is Artemisia ‘Powis Castle’.  Marilyn does not love silver foliage as much as I do which is the only reason there is not more in this garden.

golden thyme, July 10

All thyme is left alone, and it comes in lovely colours: silver, white and green, gold and green.

Calendula, another edible annual flower that the deer do not seem to like.

fig…July 10. Much to my surprise, only a few fig leaves have been nibbled on.

In 2012, Marilyn and Nancy got a nice harvest of figs!

Miscanthus giganteus

Ornamental grasses are wonderful deer resisters and Marilyn loves them.  My favourite is Stipa gigantea, which this garden lacks because the one that was there dwindled and I forgot to replace it.  I believe it was a deer casualty, but not from them eating it.  The Stipa was in their path and got trampled or lain upon!

Miscanthus variegatus, my second favourite ornamental grass

not a good photo, but lavenders are indispensable in a “deer garden”  July 10

Geranium macrorrhizum, fragrant leaves (smells like pine tree to me), July 10

Geranium ‘Rozanne’

This is but a young Rozanne.  I thought the deer would eat her but they do not, at least not so far in this garden.  She is the plant of the century according to the Royal Horticultural Society and I cannot recommend her enough.

Phygelius (cape fuchsia) comes in several colours. Hummingbirds love it. July 10

Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’, July 10, blooms later with pale yellow small sunflowers

Solidago ‘Fireworks’, a well behaved goldenrod, blooms late summer. July 10

Buddliea (butterfly bush), one of the new sterile non invasive sorts, July 10, not blooming yet

Other plants not yet pictured:

Cistus ‘Elma’, a rock rose

Ceanothus (California lilac)

There is one Phormium, left alone by deer.

More information to come!

update, 9 June 2014

Marilyn’s daughter posted this photo on Facebook:

mother and babies just off the back porch

When we went to the garden a day later, I photographed the plants that are in bloom are about to bloom, even though a deer family lives there.

Alchemilla mollis (lady’s mantle)

bunny tail grass and Erysimum ‘Bowles Mauve’

cosmos

dog daisies and Allium albopilosum

Dianthus ‘Raspberry Swirl’

copper fennel…somewhat invasive..and purple leaved Lysimachia

dog daisies and alliums

dog daisies

Geum (n the foliage of Phygelius)

Knautia macedonica and blue scabiosa

lavender about to bloom

Lychnis coronaria (rose campion)

Knautia ‘Thunder and Lightning’

Nepeta ‘Walker’s Low’ (catmint0

Persicaria ‘Firetail’ (about to bloom with red spikes)

2016:  This year, they are chowing down voraciously on the Persicaria.

Geranium ‘Rozanne’ (gets nibbled)

2015: I can report in that echibeckia seems to be deerproof

Scooter and an Echibeckia (cross between rudbeckia and echinacea)