Deer Resistant Plants

This wonderful low groundcover produces dense cone-shaped, upright flower spikes with red stems in mid to late spring, with some flowering later in the season, and are composed of tiny ball-shaped shrimp-pink buds that open to display the tiny white flowers. The flowers are held just above the palmate bluish-green to green foliage with each lobe displaying a black to burgundy main vein. In fall and under shade, the foliage becomes a deep shiny black and in sunnier sites it takes on deep bronze tones. Pink Skyrocket Foam Flower is an easy and rewarding low, stoloniferous (think Strawberry plants), semi-evergreen groundcover that is shade tolerant and will likely need shade in areas with hot summer climates. They will prefer a moist soil with ample organic matter and average or better drainage. The flowers are reported to be fragrant and are likely pollinated by smaller bees. Dr. Allen Armitage in his Herbaceous Perennial Plants, 4th Edition states that he "puts these plants on the A list for shady areas." Pink Skyrocket Foam Flower is an RHS Award of Garden Merit winner. Photos courtesy of Terra Nova Nurseries, Inc., www.terranovanurseries.com, all rights reserved. Item# 12872

The dense spikes of light periwinkle blue to light lavender pea-like flowers are held above a compact rounded mound of gray green foliage and are produced in spring. Pixie Periwinkle Dwarf Blue False Indigo or Baptisia was selected for its small compact rounded form, early flowering, and unusual light blue to light lavender flower spikes. A selection of Baptisia australis discovered and introduced by David Leiderman of Hoffie Nursery and GET Group Inc. in 2009. The Baptisias or False Indigos are easy and low-maintenance, deer resistant, long-lived, taprooted perennials that produce more and more flowering spikes with each passing year with some plants producing over a 100 spikes on mature plants. Considered a must for the cutflower garden as the spikes have an excellent vase life. Provide a full to mostly sunny site in a soil with average or better drainage and moderate fertility. The flowers attract bees, the occassional butterfly, and hummingbirds. Item# 12463

The dense spikes of pea-like blossoms are purple in bud, open to mauve, fade through light lavender and finally to near white creating a wonderful bicolor effect from the top to the bottom of the flower clusters. The flowers attract mainly bees. Plum Rosy Baptisia or False Indigo, a hybrid cultivar of US native species (a.k.a. nativar), is a vigorous and heavy flowering selection of this clump forming perennial growing to about 42-48"H x 48"W. Baptisias are easy and low-maintenance, deer resistant, long-lived, taprooted perennials that produce more and more flowering spikes with each passing year with some plants producing over a 100 spikes on mature plants. Considered a must for the cutflower garden as the spikes have an excellent vase life. Provide them with a full to mostly sunny site in a soil with average or better drainage and moderate fertility. Images courtesy of Walter's Gardens, Inc., all rights reserved. Item# 12899

Zone 6 US National Arboretum introduction! Small to medium-sized, white, anemone form to semi-double flowers and may show off golden stamens, are produced early in the season, October to November, and are held against a foil of glossy, deep green, medium-textured foliage. Polar Ice Sasanqua Camellia, an Ackerman cross using C. oleifera for cold hardiness, is a vigorous growing, medium-sized, evergreen shrub with a fairly upright to spreading, densely branching habit. It has taken temperatures as low as -12^oF with no apparent damage and no protection except for that of pine trees overhead per Dr. Ackerman's description in his and Dr. Egolf's 1991 article Winter's Rose', `Snow Flurry', and `Polar Ice' Camellias on these U.S. Arboretum introductions. 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# 13241

Large dense spikes of bright sunny yellow tubular flowers are held above the deep green foliage beginning in late spring and continuing into fall attracting a variety of pollinators. Lemon Popsicle Kniphofia is part of the dwarf, repeat flowering POPSICLE® series and are small and compact enough to enjoy as container plants or as easy, colorful, and low maintenance additions to the sunny garden and landscape. The Red Hot Pokers, Tritoma, or Kniphofias are clump forming, naturally evergreen, heat and sun loving perennials that are drought, deer, and rabbit resistant. Provide a full to mostly sunny site in an average moist well-drained soil for optimum vigor and flowering. Images courtesy of Terra Nova Nurseries, Inc., www.terranovanurseries.com, all rights reserved. Item# 13325

The dense spikes of red orange tubular buds mature to creamy white creating a eyecatching two-tone effect. Flowering begins in late spring and continues into fall. Orange Vanilla Kniphofia or Torch Lily is part of the dwarf, repeat flowering POPSICLE® series that are small and compact enough to enjoy as container plants or as easy, colorful, and low maintenance additions to the sunny garden and landscape. The Red Hot Pokers, Tritoma, or Kniphofias are clump forming, naturally evergreen, heat and sun loving perennials that are drought, deer, and rabbit resistant. Provide a full to mostly sunny site in an average moist well-drained soil for optimum vigor and flowering. Images courtesy of Terra Nova Nurseries, Inc., www.terranovanurseries.com, all rights reserved. Item# 13326

Tops at 2019 UGA Trials among Agastache winning the Classic City Award! Buttery yellow 1" long tubular flowers adorn dense 10-12" high spikes atop the medium green fragrant foliage from spring and continuing well into fall. Poquita™ Butter Yellow Dwarf Hummingbird Mint is a hummingbird magnet and the dense compact habit of this Agastache, even more compact than Kudos™ Yellow, lends it to use as a specimen, including in hanging baskets, as well as in mixed containers where you can draw these aerial acrobats in for up close viewing as well as in the garden and landscape. Provide a full to mostly sunny location in a well-drained soil for optimum health and flowering. Periodic removal of spent flower spikes will help to keep the plants looking clean and fresh as well as to make way for new flower spikes. Image courtesy of Terra Nova Nurseries, Inc. www.terranovanurseries.com, all rights reserved. Item# 12120

The 1" long deep blue to deep blue-violet tubular flowers emerge from contrasting near black, dense flower spikes to 10-14" high spikes creating a two-tone effect atop a mass of deep green fragrant foliage. Poquita™ Dark Blue Dwarf Hummingbird Mint is a hummingbird and bee magnet and the dense compact habit of this Agastache, even more compact than the Kudos™ series, lends it to use as a specimen or in mixed containers where you can draw these aerial acrobats in for up close viewing as well as in the garden and landscape. Provide a full to mostly sunny location in a well-drained soil for optimum health and flowering. Periodic removal of spent flower spikes will help to keep the plants looking clean and fresh as well as to make way for new flower spikes. Image courtesy of Terra Nova Nurseries, Inc. www.terranovanurseries.com, all rights reserved. Item# 12777

Orange 1" long tubular flowers adorn dense 10-12" high spikes atop the medium green fragrant foliage from spring and continuing well into fall. Poquita™ Orange Dwarf Hummingbird Mint is excellent for hummingbirds and the dense compact habit of this Agastache, even more compact than Kudos™ Mango, lends it to use as a specimen or in mixed containers where you can draw these aerial acrobats in for up close viewing as well as in the garden and landscape. Provide a full to mostly sunny location in a well-drained soil for optimum health and flowering. Periodic removal of spent flower spikes will help to keep the plants looking clean and fresh as well as to make way for new flower spikes. Image courtesy of Terra Nova Nurseries, Inc. www.terranovanurseries.com, all rights reserved. Item# 12121

Over a long period beginning In late summer and fall these plants are covered with dark-eyed, bicolor red, orange, and golden yellow, 2-3" wide daisies that sit atop sturdy stems with the flowers providing pollen and nectar for smaller pollinators and other garden beneficials. Prairie Glow Brown-Eyed Susan offers more flowers over a longer period on sturdy disease resistant plants with improved vigor and branching on longer-lived plants. This is a heat and sun-loving, deer and rabbit resistant native well-suited to both the garden and landscape as well as in naturalistic settings. The Brown-Eyed Susan, Rudbeckia triloba, readily reseeds on exposed soils but is not aggressive or difficult to control. It prefers a full to mostly sunny position in well-drained, average moist to semi-dry soils. Ripened seedheads offer food for songbirds and small mammals. Images courtesy of North Creek Nurseries, Inc., all rights reserved. Item# 12774

 8-14" high pyramidal clusters of up to 40 pinkish-red ball-like buds open to yellow butterfly-like blooms, then fade to a deep orange and gold, and finally turning to a deep reddish-orange to red. The Pride of Barbados, Caesalpinia pulcherrima, is a large growing tropical to subtropical shrub to tender shrub-like perennial that makes a fantastic show throughout summer. Give it plenty of room and a well-drained, moderately fertile soil, preferably in full to mostly sunny site. Plant with caution as butterflies and hummingbirds will repeatedly attack the flowers. Sometimes they drop all leaves during shipping, but will grow more with good sun. Caterpillar host: Miami Blue and Mexican Yellow Item# 571

Medium-sized, bright cherry red, formal double flowers, occasionally with lighter markings on inner petals, are produced in midseason, January to February. Prince Eugene Napoleon Camellia is an heirloom, large flowered Japonica with a moderate rate of growth and an upright to rounded, densely branching habit and glossy, medium green foliage. You can nearly always tell how popular the heirloom Camellias are and were by the number of synonyms they've amassed over the years and this one has long been a favorite as you can see here: Pope Pius IX, Rosedale Beauty, Ladiner's Red, Mrs. Harry Davis, Imbricata Rubra Plena, Queen of Denmark, Flore Plena Atrorubens, Rubra Plena Imbricata, Conte de Name, and Venus de Medicis. Provide Camellias with a fertile soil rich in organic matter, with average moisture, and an organic mulch. While this image shows a flower that is mostly white, the flowers of Miss Charleston Variegated are typically more red than white. Images courtesy of Cam Too Camellia Nursery, all rights reserved. Item# 13239

Hundreds of 1" wide lavender-blue, semi-double daisies with a showy yellow eye literally cover these plants for weeks beginning in late summer and continuing into mid fall. Professor Anton Kippenburg New York Aster or Michaelmas Daisy is a clump forming, densely branching, perennial growing to just 12-18" high and wide and while this is a small growing plant it never seems to lack for flower power once late summer arrives. Dr. Allen Armitage in his Herbaceous Perennial Plants, 4th edition states that "This excellent cultivar has withstood the test of time." No pinching or staking is required to enjoy these beauties. Use these perennials where you would normally buy Chrysanthemums whether as part of the perennial border, in the landscape, or even as container plants. The flowers attract bees, butterflies, hover flies, and numerous other garden beneficials. Item# 12018

An old and reliable favorite, Professor Charles S. Sargent Camellia produces dense rounded flowers that are simply packed with the dark red petals over an extended period from as early as late November to May. A vigorous and dense upright to rounded evergreen shrub. Item# 9195.

Spikes of soft golden-orange upward facing funnel-shaped flowers are produced non-stop from mid to late spring to fall atop the medium green foliage attracting hummingbirds, occasional butterflies, and long-tongued bees. Pumpkin Pie Hummingbird Bush, a selection of Anisacanthus quadrifidus var. wrightii and potentially the same as the cultivar 'Bennie's Gold', 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 enough for containers but makes a no-maintenance addition the garden and landscape. Catepillar host for Crimson Patch. Item# 9671

Large, 3" wide deep purplish red trumpet shaped flowers are produced throughout the warmer months of the year to potentially year-round under warm tropical conditions. The Purple Allamanda, we originally thought that this was the dwarf form, is a vigorous growing and very free flowering, naturally evergreen, scandent (or vine-like shrub, rambler, etc.) and can be trained to espelier, trellis, or arbor or periodic pruning will help to keep it semi-shrub-like. Rich green smooth foliage adorns the upright to arching stems on a plant that grows to about 8-12'H and may get larger with age under good conditions. Provide the Purple Alllamanda with a full to partly sunny site in an average moist but never soggy wet, well-drained, fertile soil for optimum vigor and continuous flowering. Where not hardy it can be easily overwintered in a warm sunny window as a container plant. It should make an excellent container specimen that is sure to add a little tropical flair to any sunny setting. Item# 12976

Beautiful dark purplish-red with a purplish tinge to the outer edges of the petals. Large formal double blooms to 5 inches across. Blooms winter to early spring. A reliable and easily grown Camellia. 'Purple Dawn', as it is offered locally, is considered to be actually 'Mathotiana' and it also known as: Julia Drayton, Mathotiana Rubra, Purple Emperor, Purple Prince, and William S. Hastie. Item# 892.

The show begins in early spring as the deep purple fans of foliage emerge from the ground eventually maturing to green and it crescendos in late spring to early summer with the plants producing deep purple, 24-30" high stems that are adorned with elegant purple, white, and yellow flowers. Purple Flame Blue Flag, a unique selection of the native Iris versicolor, was selected in 2020 as part of the American Horticulture Society's Mt. Cuba Collection™ after literally decades of garden trials. This is a slowly spreading, clump-forming, rhizomatous, herbaceous, winter deciduous perennial that is a reliable performer under average moisture conditions, although it may be at its best in moist to wet to submerged sites like rain gardens, bogs, and near the edge of ponds and other water features. Provide a full sun to partly shaded site in a fertile soil for optimum growth and vigor. Deer resistant, a good cut flower, and requires almost no maintenance. Images courtesy of Mt. Cuba Center, all rights reserved. Item# 13343

Clusters of white to lilac, up to 1" wide, star-shaped, lightly fragrant flowers are produced nearly continuously throughout the warmer months of the year. The large velvety, white to gray green, large rounded tropical foliage of the Giant Milkweed make excellent fodder for Monarch caterpillars and one leaf can provide a substantial amount of food. A large growing shrub in tropical climates where it can be trained into a tree form, grown as a shrub, or hedge. The Giant Milkweed can easily be maintained as a large container plant. Item# 11436

The nearly 1" wide creamy white starry spring flowers are streaked with pink and are soon followed by glossy deep purple new growth that matures to deep green. The Purple Glaze® Japanese Anise Shrub, Illicium anisatum 'Murasaki-no-sato', is a shade tolerant medium-sized to large growing evergreen shrub with a slow to medium rate of growth and naturally has an upright to rounded habit. It is somewhat resistant to short periods of drought once well-established and should be grown in a site with good drainage and average moist to moist soils in an area that receives shade during the hottest part of the day, especially in hot summer climates. Anise flowers attract bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Not a spice plant. Item# 12003

2-3" perfect rose form red, purplish-red, to purple blossoms emerge in profusion in mid fall and flowering may continue well into January. Cool weather helps to produce the purple tones. Purple Haze has a tidy compact growth habit making it a good choice where space is an issue. Use this compact evergreen shrub as a low hedge or accent. Another excellent Bobby Green and Green's Nurseries introduction! Item# 10192

The rich-purple tubular flowers arch outward from the center of the ball like clusters of buds that are perched atop sturdy stems and are produced for weeks in summer often lasting into fall and attract hummingbirds and larger butterflies. Purple Rooster Bee Balm, a selection of the native Monarda didyma, has outstanding disease resistance as well as some of the deepest purple flowers among its peers. This is a slowly spreading, winter deciduous, herbaceous perennial that will prefer a moist, well-drained, fertile soil in a full to mostly sunny site for optimum vigor and flowering. Purple Rooster won high marks in Monarda trials at Mt. Cuba Center, the headquarters for the American Horticulture Society. Item# 12317