Oh, and another thing........

Are there any native plants that deer will absolutely not dine on?

I think that many of the plants on this list may not work in your zone, but probably some will, check it out it might help. http://www.npsot.org/plant_lists/deer_resistant.html
Josephine.

What's native to me, won't necessarily be native to you. Here's a link for plants native to Maine
http://www.umext.maine.edu/onlinepubs/htmpubs/2500.htm

Yes; Smilax, Lindera, Asimina, Eupatorium... they're all weedy in Indiana, and only because the deer don't eat them.

Of course, you'd be doing both your garden & all the native plants in the area a big favor if you just killed off a few of the deer...

Patrick Alexander

This message was edited Mar 3, 2007 7:36 PM

Killing off the deer doesn't seem to be working anywhere. We have had hunters come and maybe get two or three out of a herd of 250 or so. I don't know what the answer is but hunting the way they are allowed to do is just not working.

Where are the wolves and cougars, just when you need them?

I think I would feel safer in my garden with deer ...LOL

Ah yes. Training them to eat ONLY deer is the difficult bit.

After a bit more thought...I think I would feel safer with wolves/cougars roaming around than knowing there was a hunter toting a high-powered rifle lurking in the bushes! We had sad case during the past deer-hunting season, when a 60-year old lady out for her daily "health" walk in the county forest got killed by a stray shot from an innacurate hunter. For safety's sake, the deer cull should be done only in areas where there are no recreational activities, such as walking...or gardening. Yes?

I agree...this was bow and arrow...but none the less I would not want to get an arrow stuck in me somewhere. LOL but then I wouldn't want to be weeding and have a cougar jump on my back. Just spray with DEER OFF...LIQUID FENCE...something like that and they do work (not completely) but they help alot.

Or gardeners could spray themselves with COUGAR OFF. Just kidding. Getting back to your original question about native plants deer don't like, have you tried Aster oblongifolius? It grew OK in my deer infested garden in southeastern PA, and although there aren't as many deer where I garden now, they haven't eaten it here either. Part of the problem with lists of deer-resistant plants is that different populations of deer seem to have different appetites! For instance, the PA deer loved Cedar (Thuja), but the deer here don't like it much. Instead, they love Aubretia and Helianthemum, and will scrape the snow off the rockery to get at them.

Other wildflowers that I never saw eaten in PA or ON are: Butterfly Weed, Milkweed, and Mullein.

spice bush they don't seem to touch...nor Nandina....(but not native).

Oh, and here's an evergreen that the deer won't touch: Juniperus rigida. It's so prickly, you need gloves to plant it. If I remember rightly, I got it from Arrowhead Alpines.

From Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve

http://www.bhwp.org/native/impact_of_deer.htm


http://www.bhwp.org/native/native_plant_info_sheets/Deer_Tolerant_Resistant_Native_Plants.pdf

The second link is from the first link and is a list of plants that deer aren't supposed to eat. Just remember, that if the deer are hungry enough, they'll eat anything.

They won't eat daffodils

And neither do rodents, but daffodils aren't indigenous/native to anywhere in North America, and that was the OP's question.

levilya wrote:
"Killing off the deer doesn't seem to be working anywhere. We have had hunters come and maybe get two or three out of a herd of 250 or so. I don't know what the answer is but hunting the way they are allowed to do is just not working."

Maybe "the way they are allowed to" is the operative phrase in that sentence.

In most of the eastern U.S., seems like we've either got to get hunters to kill more deer, or reintroduce some wolves & so forth.

Seems like using bow & arrow (or atlatl, which I'd love to see make a comeback) would solve some of the safety problems, simply because they don't travel nearly as far if the hunters miss.

Patrick Alexander

What is an atlatl?

Interest in hunting has been waning. I'm for a reintroduction of wolves and cougars.

Yes levilyla, I meant that as anything native/indigenous. I have no first hand experience on native plants that deer won't eat, so the best thing I can do is offer what I have found in searches done for my dad. FWIW, down in AR at my parents second home, the deer eat daffodils.

Deer seem to sample just about anything if they are hungry enough, non-native Daffodils as well as Serviceberry and Pawpaw included around by me. If food is in short supply, no plant seems to be safe.

Watersedge, can you have a fence? Every time I see a property that is fenced, the difference is remarkable. Same thing holds true for photos of properties that are fenced.

Yes, I can see that may of you share the same distaste for deer that I do. We have packs of coyotes around and they help some (fortunately I have no cats or small dogs).

I think that Equlibrium is most likely correct, though. I have seem deer browse on all but the Smilax and daffodils myself. I probably didn't notice the damage to Smilax because I probably just figured someone needed to hit something so they took it out on the worst thing after Rosa multiflora, Smilax.

I have toyed with the idea of clearing a dog run around the perimeter of my property and putting up an electric dog fence there. We're building on some day and I could have a doghouse constructed into the new foundation so that we could have a dog that stayed "outside", as it were, on a year round basis. My preference would be for a flock pf pugs but, realistically it might need to be something with a bit more heft. Often, we are awaken by the snorting of deer ouside the bedroom window at night as they ward off whatever they're snorting at. There are usually about 8 of them around at any given time.

Bottom line, I guess I'll stick with species roses. They're almost impossible to eat to death.

Thanks!