superpony123
Full Member
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2009 4:13 pm
Location: Central NJ

Need DEER & BUNNY RESISTANT plants!

We have this ugly (but large and full of potential) bed at the corner of the walkway, it's kind of wedge shaped. It's got a big light post in the corner, but otherwise it's filled with a scraggly rose bush or two, some lambs ear, peonies, and this hideous spirea. I like spirea in limited quantities, but that's just me. These bushes are HUGE. Honestly, the entire bed is a big brown blob to me. (unless its spring and the peonies are blooming in which case its a blob with pretty pink)

We are planning on moving the spirea to some other spot in the yard where it won't be so overpowering, and the same with everything else except for the peonies.

I've purchased a number of bearded iris bulbs and have got 2 light pink ones as well as 2 black ones. I am planning on having a "black and pink" type of theme for the spring. So far we've got the light pink peonies, black iris, pink iris, and I've got about 40 pink daffodil bulbs that I'll be planting. But for the summer, I want lots of color.

The main reason the only flowers we have in our front yard are in pots and then these rose bushes is because of all the deer and bunnies. They devour anything we put in the ground that's small enough.

I know there are certain types of flowers that they hate (ive been told that a rule of thumb for bunnies is that if it smells good to us, such as lavender, it smells awful to a rabbit.) and have come across a good deal of seeds and "deer/bunny resistant mixtures" but I don't really want a mystery garden. I want to put certain things in certain places.

I would also like to try and attract some butterflies and hummingbirds.

So, I am looking for suggestions for what would look nice in the spring (please suggest pink and black spring flowers! preferably some large perennials and a mix of small annuals) and what would look nice in the summer.

I have too many ideas for the summer, and I'm trying to think of how to get this all organized so I can have a plan for the fall when I rip everything out and plant the iris.

What are your suggestions?

For summer:
I think zinnias would look nice around the border. I would love to put something really grand and large in the center, or around the light post (which is very very tall), like sunflowers, or hollyhocks (or both!). What else? I think lupine would look nice as well, and I know the deer will also not touch it. Same with fox glove and other digitalis types. And Ive been told they do not like daisies either. Is this correct?

I would love some ideas! Thanks!

REMEMBER THAT THESE SHOULD BE DEER AND BUNNY RESISTANT!!!

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rainbowgardener
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 25279
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
Location: TN/GA 7b

Wow! no wonder you haven't drawn a response to this yet. You don't want much do you ... pink or black spring flowers, something different for the summer, something different again for fall, and all of it deer and bunny resistant, but attractive to butterflies and hummingbirds?

No wonder you are having trouble organizing your ideas, you have so many of them... Sounds like you are planning a lot of moving things in and out of your bed, which isn't my style of gardening. And to my knowledge there is little a hungry deer or bunny won't eat, though there are things they will eat preferentially if given the choice.

My best suggestion for you is here's a couple of plant databases:

These are searchable databases where you can input your requirements and it tells you plants that should work for what you want

https://www.garden.org/plantfinder/

USDA zone, color, bloom time , sun exposure, features (like attractive to butterflies, pest tolerant)

https://plantfinder.sunset.com/sunset/plant-home.jsp

this one is nice because it gives you a map to help you find your sunset climate zone, which is much more specific than USDA zones and then suggests plants right for your specific climate. On the advanced search page you can specify sun, water requirements, size, flower color, foliage color, plant type, special needs (like attractive to hummingbirds and butterflies) and problem solvers (like deer resistant)

Have fun digging around!



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