White tail deer can be a serious problem in many gardens. Selecting plants that deer avoid is a sustainable and effective way to manage these heavy feeders. While no plant is entirely deer-proof, there are many plants that deer tend to avoid. Some produce odors in their foliage that deter deer feeding. Silvery Mediterranean herbs like lavender and thyme fall into this category. Others are simply unpalatable. The spiky rosettes of hens and chicks are a great example. With these and other deer resistant perennials at your disposal, there is no reason to let deer keep you from enjoying a lush, beautiful garden.   

While deer may browse on just about anything when they are hungry enough, these resistant plants provide a good line of defense. Tucking the most repellent plants, such as alliums and herbs, around more attractive species can even help protect other plants in the garden. Your most vulnerable plants to browsing, including vegetable gardens, will likely require the additional protection of a tall fencing to keep deer at bay.

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Botanical Name: Lavandula x intermedia 'Niko'

Sun Exposure: Full sun

Soil Type: Dry to medium, well-draining

Soil pH: Neutral to slightly alkaline (6.5-8.0)

USDA Hardiness Zones: 5 to 9

The heavenly fragrance and essential oils we so love about lavenders also happen to repel deer. Lavenders are quite heat tolerant, but most varieties struggle in the humidity of a Southern summer. Not Phenomenal™ Lavender! This early-blooming cultivar is well adapted to our hot, humid conditions and also tolerates clay soil—all while looking fabulous.

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Botanical Name: Allium species and hybrids

Sun Exposure: Full sun to part shade

Soil Type: Average, medium, well-draining

Soil pH: Slightly acidic (5.5-6.5) 

USDA Hardiness Zones: 4 to 9

Both edible and ornamental onions or alliums contain sulfur compounds in their foliage and bulbs that make the plants unpalatable to deer. That’s good news for gardeners, because these versatile plants produce stunning blooms. Varying in size from the 1-inch flower clusters of 'Drumstick' allium to the softball-sized blooms of 'Globemaster', allium flowerheads are pollinator magnets and make long-lasting cut flowers.

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Botanical Name: Leucanthemum x superbum 'L1209-1'

Sun Exposure: Full sun to part shade

Soil Type: Average, dry to medium, well-draining

Soil pH: Acidic to neutral (5.5-7.0)

USDA Hardiness Zones: 5 to 9

Commonly called Shasta daisies, Leucanthemums are old-fashioned garden favorites that received a significant upgrade in 'Real Goldcup'. Selected for larger fringed blooms, sturdy upright stems, improved disease resistance, and a good branching habit, 'Real Goldcup' produces an abundance of bright yellow flowers with a golden eye. Expect continuous blooms from early summer through autumn with deadheading.

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Botanical Name: Yucca filamentosa 'Color Guard'

Sun Exposure: Full sun to part shade

Soil Type: Dry to medium, well-drained

Soil pH: Slightly Acidic (5.5-6.5)

USDA Hardiness Zones: 4 to 10

This Eastern native thrives in poor, dry soil and tolerates everything Mother Nature can throw at it: deer, rabbits, salt spray, drought, heat, and urban pollution. It looks good in every season, with handsome sword-like leaf blades displaying a bold gold stripe down the middle. Winter weather brings a cast of pink or coral hues to the evergreen foliage. Showy, bell-shaped summer blooms stand on tall stems and are visited by hummingbirds.

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Botanical Name: Asclepias incarnata

Sun Exposure: Full sun to part shade

Soil Type: Rich, moist, well-draining

Soil pH: Acidic to neutral (5.5-7.5)

USDA Hardiness Zones: 3 to 9 

Deer dislike the milky sap that gives milkweeds their common name, but these plants are a must-have for butterfly gardens. Swamp milkweed serves as a host plant for larvae of both Monarch and the closely related Queen butterflies and provides a rich source of nectar to numerous pollinators including butterflies, native bees, and hummingbirds. 

06 of 14

Botanical Name: Dianella hybrid 'DP401'

Sun Exposure: Full sun to part shade

Soil Type: Average, dry to medium, well-draining

Soil pH: Slightly acidic (5.5-6.5)

USDA Hardiness Zones: 8 to 11

This low-maintenance beauty is one tough plant, standing up to heat, drought, dry soil, and salt as well as deer. Often called flax lily or sword lily, Clarity Blue™Dianella produces graceful clumps of strappy, upright foliage tinged a handsome blue-green hue. Plant in mixed borders or containers where the evergreen foliage adds lush texture and color. This water-wise selection mixes well with succulents.

07 of 14

Botanical Name: Osmundastrum cinnamomeum

Sun Exposure: Full to part shade, dappled sun

Soil Type: Rich, moist, well-drained

Soil pH: Acidic to neutral (5.0- 7.0)

USDA Hardiness Zones: 3 to 9

Ferns make a gorgeous addition to woodland gardens where deer commonly browse. A member of the royal fern family, this species certainly has a regal appearance with long, lacy fronds that grow upright in a vase-like habit. Cinnamon ferns is highly resistant to deer browsing and tolerates heavy shade and black walnut trees. Kentucky warblers and other songbirds are known to nest in clumps of cinnamon fern.

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Botanical Name: Veronica spicata

Sun Exposure: Full sun

Soil Type: Medium to moist, well-draining

Soil pH: Acidic to neutral (5.8-7.5)

USDA Hardiness Zones: 3 to 9

This pollinator favorite produces spikes of tiny, star-shaped blooms that add contrast and texture to perennial plantings and cut flower arrangements. Cultivars include blue, violet-blue, pink, and white-flowered varieties. With a low, spreading habit, speedwell makes an excellent border or edging plant. Speedwell resists deer browsing in all but the leanest years.

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Botanical Name: Echinacea species and hybrids

Sun Exposure: Full sun

Soil Type: Average, medium to dry, well-draining

Soil pH: Slightly acidic to neutral (5.5-7.0)

USDA Hardiness Zones: 3 to 10

The genus Echinacea includes a great diversity of species and cultivars that produce showy cone-shaped flowers fringed with colorful ray petals. These North American natives support butterflies, native bees, and songbirds with their energy-rich nectar and seeds. The rough texture and slightly bitter flavor of mature echinacea foliage makes it undesirable to deer, however, young plants are occasionally browsed when other food sources are scarce.  

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Botanical Name: Thymus spp.

Sun Exposure: Full sun

Soil Type: Dry, well-draining

Soil pH: Mildly acidic to alkaline (6.0-8.0)

USDA Hardiness Zones: 5 to 9

The essential oils of thyme leaves are used in cooking, perfumes ... and repelling deer! Numerous species are commercially available, from the culinary classic common thyme (Thymus vulgaris) to colorful flowering groundcovers such as elfin thyme (Thymus serpyllum) and creeping thyme (Thymus praecox). Provide these drought-tolerant plants with sharp drainage and plenty of sunshine.

11 of 14

Botanical Name: Lamprocapnos spectabilis

Sun Exposure: Partial to full shade

Soil Type: Average, medium, well-draining

Soil pH: Mildly acidic to slightly alkaline (6.0-8.0)

USDA Hardiness Zones: 3 to 9

With its one-of-a-kind heart-shaped flowers dangling from long arching stems, bleeding heart has long been a woodland garden favorite. The rose-pink blooms emerge late spring to early summer against lacy, fern-like foliage. Plants commonly go dormant in the heat of summer, so plan accordingly. Try planting among hostas and ferns that will fill the gaps as bleeding heart fades.

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Botanical Name: Sempervivum tectorum

Sun Exposure: Full sun to part shade

Soil Type: Dry to medium, well-draining

Soil pH: Mildly acidic to slightly alkaline (6.0-8.0)

USDA Hardiness Zones: 3 to 8

These adorable succulents have thick, spiky foliage that grows in a tight rosette and is commonly accented with burgundy tips. Plants thrive in sandy or gravelly soils with excellent drainage. Hens and chicks are commonly planted in rock gardens, containers, crevices in stone walls, or massed as a groundcover.

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Botanical Name: Baptisia spp.

Sun Exposure: Full sun to part shade

Soil Type: Average, dry to medium, well-draining

Soil pH: Mildly acidic to neutral (6.0-7.2) 

USDA Hardiness Zones: 3 to 9 

False indigo is a tough, long-lived native that produces a deep tap root, making it quite drought tolerant. Plants produce clumps of upright, well branched stems with attractive trifoliate leaves. Showy, lupine-like blooms stand upright on long racemes above the foliage in shades of blue, yellow, purple, or white, depending on the species.

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Botanical Name: Amsonia spp. and cltvs.

Sun Exposure: Full sun to part shade

Soil Type: Average, medium, well-draining

Soil pH: Mildly acidic to slightly alkaline (6.0-8.0)

USDA Hardiness Zones: 3 to 9

A member of the dogbane family (Apocynaceae), which includes milkweeds, blue star plants produce a milky latex sap that is toxic to deer and other potential browsers. However, the blue star-shaped flowers attract hummingbirds, carpenter bees, butterflies, and hummingbird moths. As a bonus, the autumn foliage adds vibrant golden color to the fall garden.