New patio, what deer-proof flowers to plant in pots?

[tomf]

I am getting close to finishing a new patio area and I am trying to think of what the deer will not eat that will give me lots of flowers in the pots. It is a sunny area. The tower will be for an old chair from a ski area chair-lift,it will be a swing. I am thinking about how to make a seat for it.


Dug out and flattened, landscape timbers being put down.



Tower for swing going up.



Gravel down that is the chair.



Spikes hold the timbers down and together.



The chair.



Path to the house.



The patio area and the pots I need to find flowers for.





The dirt spot above is going to have Boxwoods on the top by the walkway and Rhubarb below them, I may mix in some flowers or bulbs.



Tractor road to lawn, I think I need one more landscape timber on the top side of it, what do you think?

[tomf]

Photo bucket was fighting me on this post but I fixed it!!!!!!

[gumbo2176]

I'm not sure what deer love to eat, but on my back porch in the middle of a big city I have Amaryllis, Ferns, Palms, Begonias, Bougenvalia, Jade plants, Spider plants, a few mint plants, Bay leaf, aloe vera, mother-in-laws tongue, just to name a few. These all grow well in pots with the Amaryllis leading the way in reproducing and getting me more plants that bloom beautiful 4-6 flowers at once on a single stem. Each flower is the size of a man's hand.

[ElizabethB]

Hi Tom,

You can grow Rhododendrons and Peonies. I can not. They are stunning and would be awesome in any garden. Jealous

Will Hosta survive in your region? I have grown Hosta but they never got really beautiful. I visited the Chicago area and Hosta was breathtaking. Something vining. Vines are bad children so plant them in very large pots next to your uprights. IDK. Climbing roses are beautiful but do require maintenance.

Your patio is beautiful. Fill in with indigenous ferns and bulbs.

Looking forward to seeing your progress.

[rainbowgardener]

Hostas are like candy to deer!

My containers are filled mostly with herbs, just because I love to grow them. But they would work well for you also, since deer don't like highly scented or aromatic plants. Ornamental salvia is a sage (culinary sage is salvia officinalis) and as such is also avoided. Other things deer don't prefer are very fragrant flowers like peonies and nicotiana. Also they avoid toxic flowers like daffodils, foxgloves, and poppies. Things that are prickly and fuzzy like lamb's ear tend to be avoided.

Where I used to live where deer were a big problem, it was traditional to plant daffodils thickly like a hedge all around the garden. I can't say that it kept deer out of the garden, especially since daffodils don't last long, but maybe it helped in spring.

Your place is so beautiful!

[tomf]

Hi Tom,

You can grow Rhododendrons and Peonies. I can not. They are stunning and would be awesome in any garden. Jealous

Will Hosta survive in your region? I have grown Hosta but they never got really beautiful. I visited the Chicago area and Hosta was breathtaking. Something vining. Vines are bad children so plant them in very large pots next to your uprights. IDK. Climbing roses are beautiful but do require maintenance.

Your patio is beautiful. Fill in with indigenous ferns and bulbs.

Looking forward to seeing your progress.

I tried Hostas thedeer thought they were candy.

[rainbowgardener]

We were posting at the same time.... that's what I said too!

[jeff84]

is deer resistant the only qualification? I would plant what I want and find ways to deter the deer.

[applestar]

You would want something that blooms all season, tomf? Or would you consider switching the pots out? -- I know you have the room to have other pots growing elsewhere, and nifty toys like those front buckets/loaders to trundle them along in.

Do you want to put things here that will need Winter protection later? (Again, an option for you since you can move them around)

If you want these to be permanent fixture, then I could picture planting daffodils for spring show and layer/group with other flower bulbs that bloom in different seasons maybe -- will they eat alliums? ...or plant shallow annuals or self seeding annuals in the same pot.

You might be able to put modest sized perennials that die back in winter in the same pot.

If the pots are big enough, out of the plants rainbowgardener listed, peonies for example only blooms once. It looks like she was thinking well drained soil and drought tolerant in containers, too. I think lavender would fit in this category. Some bloom for longer period. You probably need the English variety for winter hardiness... maybe the dwarf Hidcote.

Do deer like/eat roses?

[rainbowgardener]

Yes, I was including lavender in herbs, but it would be a good choice.

Deterring deer isn't as easy as it sounds. I grow in raised beds and don't have any trouble keeping them out of that, because deer won't jump into a small enclosure. But if you have a yard fenced, the fence needs to be at least eight feet tall and sturdy.

[tomf]

I was driving rebar into the stacked timbers and the ground to hold them in place and hit my hand holding on to the rebar. Some nasy words and ice was what came next. I am now going to use a box wrench with a long handle to hold onto the rebar.

[applestar]

Oh no! I've done that although mine was with a small hand sledge, a glancing blow, and absolutely no doubt I was not hitting as powerfully as you were.

Were you able to moderate the strike or snatch your hand away at all? I hope it heals quickly.

[tomf]

Thanks for the ideas, I still need to figure out the pots. I am thinking of annuals that flower and add color in the pots, I do not want them to grow to high. My closest neighbor has lots of nursry stock much of it is very mature. I talked to him and he said I could have all I want to dig up and take, in the dirt area I am thinking of Boxwoods on top. I was going to put some Rubarb in there but now I am not going to, I have another neigbor that has a Rhododendron fram and I can get them for cheap, so I am thinking of Rhododendrons below the Boxwood. I want to put ferns in under the tree for easy care, and I have a bunch of bulbs to go in the other spots.
This is where I am at now. Took the photos on my iPad so they are not the sharpest.





I have to weed here and put in more bulbs.



I got the chair painted.

[tomf]

Hung the chair and made a seat for it. We had to find local plants for the pots so we went to a large garden center and got Gallo DK Bicolor Gaillardia.

[applestar]

What FUN to use an old/retired ski lift chair. Very YOU!

[tomf]

What FUN to use an old/retired ski lift chair. Very YOU!

Yup.

This is our good friend and neighbor Norman, he is 91 and as spry as a guy of 70.



This is a very old chair and was a gift, it would have had wood slat seats on it so I made some, the wood was too nice to paint so I stained and finished it in polyurethane.

[tomf]

So far the deer have not eaten our flowers in the pots, Yah! Next is to go nextdoor and find some nice big Boxwoods and shrubs for the dirt area above it and around the wall for the green house. I am also looking at puttin ferns under the tree as they are easy to keep up and I have tons of them for free, I like free.

[tomf]

I dug up the area above the patio with the backhoe yesterday to get it ready to plant. I have decided to put low growing Boxwoods down the bottom and hedge Boxwoods on top. My neighbor showed me where on his land he had a bunch of mature one that I could take. I have some yuccas I need to move so I think they will go under the tree.

How it is so far.

The deer have not eaten the flowers; so far.

[tomf]

Boxwoods are in, I hope they all live, it looks like even the worst ones may make it. I will go back and dig more in the fall if not. Put in some Iris today. have some more planting to do, I think ferns in this area. When the boxwoods are established next year I will shape them.