I have a difficult place in my yard under a large Myoporum laetum tree - it gets dappled sunlight throughout most of the day, which narrows down plant choices on its own, but the real problem is that there are tons of deer around here that aren't afraid of people or dogs and eat just about anything in people's yards. A few days ago I bought a couple Nicotiana alata "Crimson Bedder" plants, hoping that would solve the problem since they are both shade tolerant and poisonous. But this morning when I looked out the window, I saw that both plants, which were previously at least 12" tall and growing fast with many large leaves, had been eaten nearly to the ground by the deer! So much for them being deer proof?
Are these plants actually poisonous enough to deter predators? Will they make the deer sick (preferably severely) so they will not eat tobacco in the future? I was looking forward to seeing the beautiful blooms on these plants, but I guess that's been delayed a bit until they recover - that's assuming they will recover eventually? If these plants aren't enough to deter the deer, does anyone have any other suggestions for shade tolerant, deer resistant species? The area is irrigated and gets watered by the sprinklers every other day I believe, so drought tolerant plants aren't necessary. I would prefer something evergreen if possible and that stays under about 36", since they are going under a window. I am a beginner and don't know much about the soil, but because the tree above is constantly shedding leaves, flowers, and berries, there is a relatively thick layer of decayed organic matter on top that I presume would be fairly rich in nutrients.
On the bright side, I also planted a couple ferns yesterday also in this spot, Pyrrosia lingua "Variegata" and Dryopteris erythrosora "Prolifica", and the deer have left them alone. I like ferns, but because they grow so slowly, filling this spot up with them would take forever and/or be extremely expensive (the area in question is about 8' x 15' I'd say?). Thanks in advance for any help!
Rats on stilts ate my tobacco!
Well the plants are now beginning to put out some side shoots... Does anyone know if the deer will be likely to leave them alone from now on? I've read they usually eat everything once, but if something makes them sick (hopefully these plants did), they'll avoid it in the future. Is there any truth to that?
I can't help re your questions about your plants, but I did find this great list from Annie's Annuals of deer-resistant plants. If you look across the top of the page you'll see menu items like Type, Color, Lifespan, Availability, etc. You can set parameters there and click on Display and it'll give you a list of deer-resistant plants which match those parameters. I'd leave "Availability" blank so that you get all possibilities whether Annie's has the plant or not.
http://www.anniesannuals.com/plt_lst/lists/general/lst.gen.asp?catagory=1
Hope this helps.
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