Deer Resistant Plants

Coming again in 2022! Small clusters of 2-3" wide brilliant golden yellow trumpet shaped flowers are produced throughout the growing season to potentially year-round under warm tropical conditions and are mainly butterfly pollinated but also attract bees and other pollinators. The Dwarf Allamanda, Allamanda cathartica 'Compacta', is a small, naturally evergreen, tropical shrub growing to 2-3'H x 2-3'W and potentially slightly larger with age. The stems are adorned with whorls of glossy narrow foliage to about 3" long. This is an easy to grow, heat and sunloving tropical with good to excellent flower power and makes an easy container plant that is sure to add a tropical flair to any sunny garden setting. For optimum vigor and flowering provide the Dwarf Allamanda with a full sun to partly shaded location in a fertile, well-drained soil. It is important to allow the soil to become somewhat dry between waterings and the hotter it is generally the happier they are and will sulk under cool (below about 55-60^oF) and wet conditions. Item# 395

Clusters of fiery-orange tubular flowers are seemingly borne continuously from mid to late spring to fall, where grown as a die-back perennial, to potentially nearly year-round under warm tropical conditions attracting mainly hummingbirds but also larger butterflies. The Dwarf Mexican Firebush, Hamelia patens var. glabra 'Nana', is a naturally evergreen, heat and sunloving, tropical shrub that acts like a die-back perennial returning from the crown in spring in areas where freezes occur. This compact form of the Mexican Firebush lends it to use in smaller spaces and containers as well as in the garden and landscape. The Dwarf Mexican Firebush appears to be just as hardy as the standard larger growing form and we have seen it take temperatures as low as 8^oF with no problems carrying its hardiness well into zone 8. Provide a full to mostly sunny site in an average moist, well-drained, fertile soil for optimum vigor and continuous flowering. Item# 403

A winner of the Camellia Hall of Fame Award! The medium-sized, perfect or rose form flowers are fuchsia on the outer petals lightening to light pink in the center are produced in mid to late season or January to April. E.G. Waterhouse, a Camellia x williamsii hybrid, is a vigorous growing large evergreen shrub with an upright habit becoming rounded with age. Provide Camellias with a fertile soil rich in organic matter, with average moisture, and an organic mulch. Item# 12998

Purple falls with prominent darker red-purple veining and a contrasting gold signal topped by the light lavender standards that deepen to purple at their outer edges, and are topped by light blush pink style arms.purple standards. Earline Sudduth Louisiana Iris flowers in midseason, typically April, flowering and grows to about 30-36"H. Louisiana Irises are easy and adaptable, rhizomatous perennials with fans of deep green sword-like foliage and seem as at home in standing water as they do in average moist garden soils. Remember that these plants do most of their growing in fall and winter and so this is when they should be fed and fall is also a great time to divide plants if desired. Provide a full to mostly sunny site for optimum vigor and flowering. Item# 13340

An RHS Award of Garden Merit selection. Grown mainly as a tough and disease resistant evergreen hedge adorned with a cloak of deep bluish-green to gray-green foliage with a contrasting silvery reverse but this is also an excellent shrub for fruit production for home use or leave it for the songbirds. Ebbinge's Silverberry is a hybrid Elaeagnus that is prized for its toughness and fast rate of growth as a hedge or screen. It can be maintained as small as 3'H x 3'W but is more commonly maintained at 5-6'H x 5-6'W or allow it to grow to its 10-15'H x 10-15'W naturally rounded mature size. In fall it produces fragrant but not very showy greenish to cream colored, 1" long tubular flowers that ripen in spring into 1" long cylindrical red fruit flecked with silver and with a large seed that is also edible excluding its woody exterior. The fruit is astringent and tart if eaten before being fully soft, deep red, and ripe at which point it makes a wonderful jelly similar to mayhaw or crabapple. Songbirds and small mammals are happy to assist with collection of the ripe fruit. Deer, salt, and drought resistant once well-established requiring mainly good drainage in a full sun to partially shade site for optimum vigor and growth. Considered to be nitrogen fixing. Item# 10695

The deep red, semi-double to peony form blossoms of Edna Campbell Variegated are randomly spotted and splashed with brilliant white. Red new growth and may have variegated foliage with a compact habit. Flowers early to midseason. Item# 10660.

One of the earliest to begin flowering and an RHS Award of Garden Merit winner! Clusters of lilac-pink tubular flowers are produced in abundance beginning in midspring and continuing into fall and are held against a contrasting foil of long-lasting showy deep bronze-red bracts and exceptionally dark green glossy foliage that takes on purple and bronze tones in winter. The flowers of Abelias attract a variety of pollinators including bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Edward Goucher Glossy Abelia, considered to be a hybrid of Abelia x grandiflora x A. shumanii, has a naturally dense, rounded to vase-shaped habit on this medium-sized, evergreen to semi-evergreen shrub. Abelias are known for their toughness and adaptability to a variety of soil types provided they have average or better drainage. Deer resistant, somewhat salt tolerant, and mature, well-established plants are moderately drought resistant. Provide a full sun to part shade site with moderately fertile, average moist soil for optimum vigor and flowering. Long one of our personal favorites! Item# 3041

Large to very large, soft pink anemone form flowers are edged in a frilly border of white and surround a boss of yellow stamens. Flowers are borne in early to mid-season (December-March) on a large upright to rounded evergreen shrub. Item# 9157.

A more consistently evergreen selection of this easy medium sized shrub. The dense neat mound of deep green glossy foliage and red tinged stems is topped by clusters of white flowers in spring which make way to red berries ripening through purple and finally black. The flowers attract a variety of pollinators and the fruit attract songbirds and smaller fructivores. Everleaf Walter's Viburnum is a selection of the southeastern native Viburnum obovatum and its dense mounding habit lends it to use anywhere a medium-sized shrub is desired in the landscape. It is generally evergreen into zone 8A and tends to be deciduous to semi-evergreen in zones 6 and 7. Use this tough and easy native shrub in place of Dwarf Yaupon, Indian Hawthorne, or anywhere a  disease resistant, low maintenance shrub is desired. Provide a full sun to part shade site in an average to well-drained soil for optimum vigor. Image courtesy of AgriStarts, all rights reserved. Item# 13395

The very large flowers of this appropriately named Camellia consist of an anemone to semi-double white flower splashed, flecked, and striped with a dark pink to near red. Extravaganza Camellia flowers in mid season (March-April usually) on a compact upright to rounded shrub. Caution - may cause traffic jams if planted too close to the road! Item# 11331

Beginning in midsummer the clump of deep green foliage is topped by double, bubblegum pink daisies with a bright golden yellow eye into early fall. The Fantasy™ Pocahontas Anemone or Windflower is a hybrid selection with excellent vigor on a clump forming perennial with an exceptionally long flowering season for an Anemone. The finished flowers develop into interesting airy seedheads. Tolerant of *full sun in cool summer climates, elsewhere provide midday and afternoon shade or filtered shade. Provide an average moist, well-drained, fertile soil for optimum flowering and vigor. Use Fantasy™ Pocahontas Anemone as a container plant as well as in the garden and landscape. Image courtesy of Plants Nouveau Inc., all rights reserved. Item# 12132

Large, apricot pink, semi-double flowers have creped outer edges and the boss of gold tipped stamens may or may not have additional petaloids mixed in with it. The interestingly colored flowers are produced in midseason, January to February, and the pollen is sure to attract bees and other pollinators on warm winter days. Fashionata Camellia, a large flowered Japonica type, is a moderately vigorous growing, large evergreen shrub with a naturally upright semi-open habit that rounds out with maturity. Provide Camellias with a fertile soil rich in organic matter, with average moisture, and an organic mulch. Item# 13221

The elegant, medium to large, white, densely packed, peony form flowers are produced in midseason, January to February, and standout like spotlights against the foil of deep green, glossy foliage. Flowers may display a few yellow stamens. Fifth Avenue Camellia is a large flowered Japonica type with a moderate rate of growth and a densely branching habit maturing into a large, rounded, evergreen shrub. Provide Camellias with a fertile soil rich in organic matter, with average moisture, and an organic mulch. Images courtesy of Cam Too Camellia Nursery, all rights reserved. Item# 13222

A branch sport of Chicago Hardy with very short internodes producing a very compact, well-branched plant that is a good producer and is ideal for container culture. Expect Fignomenal to produce large crops of medium to small nearly black to brown or violet, pear shaped to turbinate figs with amber to strawberry flesh with a rich sweet flavor. Provide a full to mostly sunny site in a well-drained, average moist, fertile soil for optimum vigor and fruit production. Protect young trees for the first few years especially in zones 8A and colder while they become established. Caterpillar host: Ruddy Daggerwing. Item# 13249

The medium to large, dark red, variable peony to anemone like flowers may display contrasting golden yellow stamens peeking out from between the petals and are produced over a long season from early to late season or November or December to April. Fire Falls Camellia is a vigorous growing large evergreen shrub with an upright habit becoming rounded with age and may be more open in growth than some cultivars. Provide Camellias with a fertile soil rich in organic matter, with average moisture, and an organic mulch. Item# 12999

Large rounded clusters composed of a multitude 2" tubular flowers open a deep red, fade through orange, and finally to a coral pink are produced throughout summer and into fall attracting hummingbirds for miles around. The Firecracker Bush, Bouvardia ternifolia, is a naturally small upright to rounded subtropical shrub native to the US desert southwest and Mexico. Its desert roots makes this an easy and forgiving container plant as well as an excellent addition to the garden and landscape. Provide the Firecracker Bush with a well-drained soil in a fertile, average moist soil in part shade to bright shade for optimum vigor and flowering. Under warm frost free conditions it may flower nearly year-round. Item# 13182

2022 Missouri Botanic Garden Plants of Merit selection! 18" long arching spikes composed of numerous dark golden yellow flowers burst onto the scene in late summer and fall creating a much needed feast of nectar and pollen for bees, butterflies including migratory Monarchs, and other garden beneficials. Fireworks is an award winning selection of the native Roughleaf Goldenrod, Solidago rugosa, and it won top marks in the Goldenrod trials at the Chicago Botanic Gardens. This is a hardy, clump-forming slowly spreading (a.k.a. short rhizomatous) herbaceous perennial that is both adaptable and manageable. Fireworks Goldenrod prefers a full to mostly sunny site in an average moist to moist fertile soil although it is tolerant of part shade, part sun conditions. Use this easy to grow native perennial in naturalistic settings and in mixed perennial gardens and landscapes. Item# 12313

Plants are covered by clusters of 2-3" wide, widely flaring, 4-petalled, glowing sunny yellow flowers in late spring and early summer and are held against red tinged foliage and even darker red new growth, flower buds, and winter rosettes. Fireworks Sundrops, a selection of our native Oenothera fruticosa subsp. glauca, but has a more compact, 12-18" high habit than the species. This is a tough and easy clump forming to short-rhizomatous, herbaceous perennial well suited to sunny, well-drained sites and plants typically need little additional attention once established in the landscape. Unlike many of the Evening Primroses, Sundrop flowers are open during the day providing nectar and pollen to a variety of bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Images courtesy of North Creek Nurseries, all rights reserved. Item# 10160

The medium to large, semi-double, fiery flame red flowers centered by a contrasting boss of gold stamens atop white filaments and are produced in midseason, January to February. The pollen laden flowers attract bees and other pollinators on warmer winter days. Flame Camellia is a large flowered Japonica type with a vigorous upright and densely branching habit becoming rounded in form with maturity. In Stirling Macoboy's 1987 Illustrated Encyclopedia of Camellias he describes the flowers as "One of the most vividly colored of all camellias". Provide Camellias with a fertile soil rich in organic matter, with average moisture, and an organic mulch. Item# 13223

This Almost Eden exclusive introduction boasts clusters of glowing deep reddish orange 2" upward facing tubular blooms that are perfect for hummingbirds and butterflies. Flowering from summer and often well into winter this hardy heat and sun-loving tropical can be grown as a shrub, vine, espalier, or can even be trained into tree forms. Where not hardy it makes an easy container plant. Item# 9565.

Spikes of deep red upward facing funnel-shaped flowers are produced non-stop from mid to late spring to fall atop the rich glossy deep green foliage attracting hummingbirds, occasional butterflies, and long-tongued bees. Flame Red Hummingbird Bush, a selection of Anisacanthus quadrifidus var. wrightii, is a small decidous native shrub from South Texas with excellent flower power. This easy and reliable heirloom has an upright to spreading busny habit rarely exceeding 3-4' in height (3'x3' is fairly typical in our zone 8B gardens) and it revels in the heat and sun of summer and is undaunted by the high humidity and high rainfall of the southeastern US. In the northernmost portion of its hardiness range, zones 7A-8A, the Hummingbird Bush may freeze back to near groundlevel in the hardest winters but readily returns to flowering by mid to late spring. Provide a full sun to mostly sunny site in a well-drained, fertile, average moist soil for optimum vigor and flowering. Small and tough enough for container culture but it also makes a low-maintenance addition the garden and landscape. Item# 13176