Deer Resistant Plants

Narrow, upright to arching, 24-30" high spikes of rich purple flowers are produced in mid to late summer and into fall attracting a host of pollinators. Smallhead Blazing Star, Liatris microcephela, is a cormous, clump-forming, herbaceous perennial with narrow, dark green, fine-textured foliage and produce a multitude of flower spikes per plant at maturity. This tough little deer and drought resistant native is typically found in sandy to clayey, well-drained soils in the southeastern US. Like all of our Liatris species, it is a key pollinator plant attracting bees, butterflies, flower flies, and likely occasional low-flying hummingbirds. Smallhead Blazing Star makes for a long-lasting cut flower and, unlike most Liatris, the flowers begin opening from the top downward. Provide a full sun to partly shaded site in fertile, average moist to periodically dry soil. Images courtesy of North Creek Nurseries, all rights reserved. Item# 13266

The Smith Fig is an heirloom Louisiana variety that was introduced by Becnel Nursery near New Orleans, Louisiana. It produces large yellow fruit with a sweet red flesh. A drop of honeydew exudes from the eye which minimizes spoiling and makes Becnel's Smith Fig a choice variety for southeastern gardens. Caterpillar host: Ruddy Daggerwing. Image courtesy of F. Carter. Item# 9910.

The large to very large, pure white anemone form flowers, sometimes with a few yellow stamens peaking out from between the central boss of petaloids and are produced in early to midseason or Nov-February. Snow Chan Camellia, a sport of Shiro Chan which is itself a sport of Elegans, and each of these varieties tend to have a slower rate of growth and a more open habit with large deep green foliage lacily edged with large prominent teeth. It tends to have a more evenly rounded form growing about as wide as high. Provide Camellias with a fertile soil rich in organic matter, with average moisture, and a deep organic mulch. Item# 13008

This low growing, mat forming perennial covers up in 1/2" wide white daisies with yellow eyes in late summer and fall attracting bees and smaller pollinators. Snow Flurry White Heath Aster, a selection ofSymphyotrichum ericoides , is a 4-8" high, sprawling, groundcovering selection of this normally 3' high native perennial with dark green narrow heath or juniper like foliage. This species is found most commonly throughout much of the central US as well as into the northeastern and northwestern regions. Provide this easy perennial with a full to mostly sunny site and well-drained, semi-dry soils. Caterpillar host: Field Crescent, Pearl Crescent, Texan Crescent, Roadside Checkerspot, Hoffman's Checkerspot, and American Lady. Images courtesy of North Creek Nurseries, all rights reserved. Item# 12246

An exceptionally cold hardy and free flowering Gardenia, Snow Girl produces a big show of fragrant single flowers in early summer and continues to produce some flowers into late summer. This little beauty has deep green dainty foliage and a tight compact habit to help get her through the toughest of winters. Small enough to enjoy in containers or let this little gal perfume the summer garden and landscape. Item# 11121

Bright rosy pink to rosy red new growth matures to bright white and green creating a yearround splash of color in the garden, landscape, and even as a spiller for containers and over retaining walls. Snow-N-Summer™ Asiatic Jasmine, a wonderfully colorful selection of Trachelospermum asiaticum, creates a tough and easy, evergreen groundcover that has the ability to thrive even under trying conditions. This 6-12" high groundcover to small twining vine can produce creamy yellow fragrant flowers similar to Confederate or Star Jasmine, Trachelospermum jasminoides, when grown as a vine or when allowed to trail from hanging baskets and over retaining walls, though it is generally infrequent and is the exception rather than the rule. Few plants can compete with the disposition of this dense groundcover once it is fully established in the landscape making it an easy and reliable choice for landscapers and tough to garden in areas, like beneath trees, where few other plants can thrive or in parking lot islands. It is heat loving, both sun and shade tolerant, deer and rabbit resistant, and has few pest or disease issues particularly when grown in soil with average or better drainage. For the best and brightest foliage coloration some direct sunlight during the day is beneficial and the more the better. Probably best suited to zones 8 and warmer for inground plantings but it can be used as a groundcover in containers beneath larger plants. item# 1188

The bare winter stems are adorned with bright sunny yellow flowers in late winter and early spring attracting mainly bees as pollinators. Once the flowering season is finished this beautiful shrub is adorned with solid yellow foliage providing color until autumn when the foliage takes on purple tones until it falls away. The Solid Gold Dwarf Korean Forsythia, Forsythia viridissima var. koreana 'Solid Gold', is an Almost Eden introduction that we selected as a stable sport of the cultivar Ilwang. Ilwang was first shared with us by the late great nurseryman Sherwood Aikens of Minden, Louisiana. This is an easy to grow, low maintenance, compact growing deciduous shrub with an arching, fountaining habit growing wider than tall and maxing out at about 3-4'H x 4-5'W. Its golden foliage can tolerate full sun but may lighten some but this does not appear to affect the plant's vigor it. Provide a fertile soil with average or better drainage and average moisture. Item# 9742

Sommer Joy Angel's Trumpet produces long-lasting double or more, pink trumpets on a vigorous growing plant throughout the warmer months of the year. This is an exciting 2015 release by noted Brugmansia breeder Fred Sommer. Angel's Trumpets are fast growing tropical shrubs that act-like die-back perennials in the northern parts of their range but readily return from the roots in spring. Sure to attract hummingbird moths. Item# 11290

A low growing, clump forming to slowly spreading perennial the Southern Prairie Aster produces 1" wide, medium purple to lighter pinkish purple daisies with a yellow eye atop sturdy upright to arching stems beginning in late summer and lasting into fall. This is another Aster that is native to sandy dryer upland soils and so is somewhat drought resistant once well-established. Excellent for native pollinators.Caterpillar host: Field Crescent, Pearl Crescent, Texan Crescent, Roadside Checkerspot, Hoffman's Checkerspot, and American Lady.  Item# 10694.

A freely flowering summer blooming Snapdragon, this easy to grow perennial produces dense spikes of soft rosy pink flowers with primrose yellow and peachy orange nectar guides that sit atop a compact mound of handsome fuzzy gray-green foliage. The Spanish Snapdragon, a native of the drier Meditteranean region of Europe, is a suprisingly winter hardy species growing about twice as wide as it is high and may trail somewhat when grown as a container plant. It is best suited to soils with excellent drainage in a full to mostly sunny location and makes a forgiving container specimen that will dazzle for weeks. Even with its preferences for drier conditions it has been quite tolerant of growing in average moist well-drainedsoils in our hot and humid southern zone 8B climate. Moderately drought resistant once well-established and considered to be deer and rabbit resistant. Caterpillar host: Common Buckeye. Item# 11695

A U.S. National Arboretum introduction, Sparkleberry Holly was selected for its ability to produce a dramatic, long-lasting display of deep glowing red berries in dense clusters that seemingly cover the generally upright to arching stems of this vigorous deciduous holly. Masses of tiny greenish white spring flowers are soon followed by small round fruit that ripen to a deep, clear red. In fall the foliage turns to yellow and is quickly shed to display the bare stems adorned with massive clusters of brilliantly colored berries that can remain well into spring. Item# 10723.

An RHS Award of Garden Merit winner! The small to medium-sized, double, ruby red flowers with a lavender tinge, showing varying amounts of yellow stamens among the central petaloids, are produced early in the season, October to December. Sparkling Burgundy Sasanqua Camellia is a C. hiemalis hybrid with Shi-Shi Gashira lineage with a vigorous yet compact well-branched habit and cloaked in medium-textured, dark green, glossy foliage growing about as high as wide. Use this medium-sized evergreen shrub as a fall flowering accent, hedge, or even a container plant in formal or informal settings. This was one of the earliest patented Camellias assigned USPP1539. The Sasanqua Camellias are much more tolerant of growing conditions than standard Japonica Camellias and can tolerate less than perfect soils and full sun to light shade conditions. Images courtesy of Cam Too Camellia Nursery, all rights reserved. Item# 13229

Clusters of 1" orange tubular blooms are born throughout much of the year where protected from frost and freezes or it acts as a die-back perennial in the northern portions of its range. Shade and drought tolerant, deer resistant, and a favorite of Hummingbirds, how can you go wrong with Spicy Justicia? It flowers in sun or shade, though plants may be healthiest and most floriferous when grown with afternoon or midday shade, in well-drained, average moist, moderately fertile soils. Caterpillar host: White Peacock and Malachite. Item# 654.

The large, palmate, tropical-looking, glossy medium to deep green foliage is heavily overlaid with contrasting white to creamy white variegation including the major veins which are almost solid white. A choice evergreen shrub for shaded sites. Mature plants produce large loose clusters to 18" or more across are composed of 1" to 1-1/2" diameter, ball-shaped white flowers that are produced in fall to winter attracting an amazing number of mainly smaller pollinators and are followed by 1/4" diameter green berries that ripen to black. Spider's Web Fatsia or Japanese Aralia makes an excellent choice for shaded locations and develops into a medium to large, often multi-stemmed evergreen shrub with an initially slow rate of growth that increase to moderate once plants are well-established. Makes a wonderful specimen, informal hedge, or container plant for indoors or out. Provide Fatsia with an average moist, fertile, acidic soil rich in organic matter with average or better drainage. Photos courtesy of TERRA NOVA® Nurseries, Inc., www.terranovanurseries.com, all rights reserved. Item# 12829

Dainty, nectar-rich, late winter to midspring, greenish white flowers are followed by sweet, clear orange, 3/8" diameter berries with a flavor reminiscent of cantaloupe ripen in fall. Like all of our native Hackberry species, the Spiny Hackberry, Celtis pallida or C. ehrenbergiana, is an important host plant for the Hackberry butterflies (American Snout, Cuban Snout, Empress Leilia, Dusky Emperor, Tawny Emperor, Hackberry Emperor, etc...) as well as the Red-Bordered Metalmark. The ripe fruit are devoured by a variety of birds and other wildlife. Human nibblers should be aware that the fruit does contain a large pit. The Spiny or Desert Hackberry develops into a large shrub or small tree that seems to prefer average moist soils but as the name implies it is quite drought tolerant once well-established. Item# 10682

The beautifully mottled, splashed, and flecked yellowish, chartreuse, and deeper green variegated succulent ovate foliage adorns the zig-zagging stems of this upright growing succulent and summer may bring a ring-like cluster of 1" long deep red, bird-shaped flowers that attract hummingbirds and give the plant its common name. The Splish Splash or Mottled Red Bird Cactus is an easy to grow highly decorative form of this heirloom and Florida native plant that has an easy and forgiving disposition creating fantastic, architecturally pleasing specimens. A shrub-like native of tropical forests of southern Florida and as far south as Central America, it makes an easy porch or patio plant where it partial shade to bright shade but can also be enjoyed as an easy indoor plant.  Allow the soil to become somewhat dry between waterings although it can tolerant more moisture when in active growth and less during winter. Item# 12608

A 1958 Monrovia introduction, Spreading Sunset Lantana produces rounded clusters of nectar rich flowers that open yellow and fade through shades of orange to near red creating an overall orange effect. This a trailing Lantana that lends itself to use as a groundcover in the garden or landscape or as a spiller from large containers. The flowers attract a variety of pollinators especially butterflies and bees. Provide a full to mostly sunny position for the best results. Item# 11048

Masses of 2-¹/₂ to 3" wide semi-double rose pink flowers seemingly cover up the plants in February-March and are centered by a boss of yellow stamens atop white filaments. Spring Awakening Camellia, a hybrid developed and introduced by Dr. Clifford Parks of Camellia Forest Nursery in 1990, is a moderately vigorous, large growing evergreen shrub with an upright, somewhat loose and open habit initially that will likely become denser and rounded with age as is typical of most Camellias.  Provide Camellias with a fertile soil rich in organic matter, with average moisture, and a deep organic mulch. Images courtesy of CamToo Camellia Nursery, all rights reserved. Item# 13009

For several weeks in mid to late spring, the mounds of large, apple-green, heart-shaped, quilted foliage with maroon veining is topped by a multitude of up to 10" high conical spike-like clusters, or racemes, that are adorned in pink round buds that open to display the fragrant dainty white flowers that attract a variety of smaller pollinators. In fall and winter, its foliage takes on fall colors in shades of red, orange, yellow, and purple. Spring Symphony Foam Flower or Tiarella, a hybrid selection, is a stoloniferous, ^†semi-evergreen, perennial groundcover perfectly suited to shaded gardens and landscapes. They can tolerate more sun in areas with cool summer climates but will still likely prefer to be in the shade during the heat of the day. Tiarellas prefer a moist soil with ample organic matter and average or better drainage and are resistant to be being browsed by deer and rabbits. In his introduction to the genus Tiarella, Dr. Allen Armitage in his Herbaceous Perennial Plants, 4th Edition states that he "puts these plants on the A list for shady areas." and in regards to the cultivar Spring Symphony he states "Even though there has been an explosion of newer cultivars, this is still the one I recommend to my daughters." Spring Symphony Tiarella has also been selected as an RHS Award of Garden Merit winner. Images courtesy of Terra Nova Nurseries, Inc., www.terranovanurseries.com, all rights reserved. Item# 13327