Are you tired of those pesky deer treating your garden like an all-you-can-eat buffet? Well, I’ve got some fantastic news for you! I’ve compiled a list of the top 27 deer-resistant perennial flowers that will keep your backyard looking stunning without attracting those hungry herbivores. Let’s dive in and explore these beauties together!
1. Yarrow (Achillea)
Picture this – large, flat clusters of white, yellow, pink, and fuchsia flowers dancing atop feathery, fragrant foliage all summer long. Yarrow is a tough cookie, thriving in full sun and forming dense colonies that make for an excellent ground cover.
2. Bee Balm (Monarda)
Want to attract pollinators while deterring deer? Bee Balm is your go-to plant! With vibrant blooms in red, crimson, white, and pink, this 3-to-6-foot tall beauty is a magnet for bees and butterflies. It’s perfect for wildlife gardens and performs best in full sun to part shade.
3. Coneflower (Echinacea)
I absolutely adore coneflowers! These 2-to-5-foot tall plants boast masses of large, purple, pink, and white daisy-like flowers that bloom throughout the summer. Not only are they deer-resistant, but they’re also loved by birds, bees, and butterflies.
4. Lavender (Lavandula)
Can you imagine a more heavenly scent than lavender? Surprisingly, deer don’t find it as appealing as we do. Lavender’s purple flower spikes and foliage grow 1 to 3 feet tall, depending on the variety, and thrive in full sun and well-draining soils.
5. Russian Sage (Perovskia)
Formerly a member of the Salvia genus, Russian Sage is a stunning deer-resistant plant that grows 3 to 5 feet tall with airy, abundant blooming branches in shades of purple. It’s a fabulous choice for forming hedges and loves poor, dry soil and full sun.
6. Blanket Flower (Gaillardia)
If you’re looking for a short-lived but fast-growing native perennial, Blanket Flower is your match! Growing up to 2 feet tall, these beauties are topped with masses of multicolored, brilliant daisy-like flowers in hot shades of red and yellow. They’re real troopers, blooming repeatedly throughout the summer months and brightening up sunny spots in poor to average soil.
7. Stonecrop (Sedum)
These drought-tolerant succulents are as tough as nails! Sedums come in various sizes and shapes, from upright growers to low-growing groundcovers, and are smothered in star-shaped flowers in the fall. They’re fantastic for rock gardens and borders, helping to feed late-season bees while thriving in sandy, well-drained soil.
8. Pinks (Dianthus)
Also known as garden pinks or cheddar pinks, perennial Dianthus grows 6 to 36 inches tall and boasts a remarkable clove-like scent. Their frilly flowers come in a range of colors, including white, pink, and red. These mounded or trailing plants are perfect for cottage gardens and borders, thriving in moist soils and full sun.
9. Iris
With their upright, sword-like leaves and flamboyant spring flowers, Irises are a sight to behold! They bloom in a wide array of colors, from red, orange, and yellow to brown, purple, blue, and even black. These tough perennials prefer full sun and sandy soils, and they bloom best when the top of their rhizome is exposed.
10. Daylily (Hemerocallis)
In my experience, daylilies have been deer-resistant superstars! Their arching, grass-like leaves provide the perfect backdrop for multi-flowered stems holding graceful blooms in both warm and cool shades. These tough, drought-tolerant plants can reach 1 to 5 feet tall and thrive in deep, fertile soils and full sun to part shade.
11. Lupins (Lupinus)
Get ready to be wowed by Lupins’ fantastic segmented palmate leaves that give off a tropical vibe! These 3-to-4-foot tall spring-blooming wildflowers are topped with lush blue, pink, red, white, purple, or bicolor flower spikes. They naturalize easily in rich, moist soil and full sun, reverting to their natural blue shades over several generations.
12. Red Hot Poker (Kniphofia)
Talk about a showstopper! Red Hot Poker plants reach 2 to 3 feet tall, with spikes of red, orange, and yellow bottle-brush-like blossoms rising above arching, lance-shaped foliage in mid to late summer. These sturdy, sun-loving plants prefer well-draining, dry soils and are hardy in zones 5 to 9.
13. Milkweed (Asclepias)
Not only is milkweed deer-resistant, but it’s also adored by fluttering butterflies! Growing 1 to 4 feet tall, these beauties bloom throughout the summer with nectar-rich, showy flowerheads in yellow, orange, and pink. They’re perfect for nature gardens in full sun with moist, well-draining soils.
14. Garden Phlox (Phlox paniculata)
Imagine fragrant, long-lasting blooms forming robust panicles in pinks, whites, reds, and purples atop 3-to-4-foot plants from summer into fall. Garden Phlox is an essential cottage garden flower that’s low-maintenance and prefers full sun to part shade and moist, neutral soils.
15. Columbine (Aquilegia)
Picture delicate stems holding spur-like, multicolored blossoms above pale green, clover-like leaves on 1-to-3-foot tall plants. Columbines thrive in woodland and nature gardens, preferring full sun to part shade and rich, moist soils.
16. Oriental Poppy (Papaver orientale)
Get ready for a visual feast with Oriental Poppies’ spectacular, papery petals in eye-popping red, orange, pink, and white surrounding dark centers. Blooming in spring above spiky, thistle-like foliage, these fantastic cut flowers also produce unique seed heads that are excellent for dried floral arrangements.
17. Peony (Paeonia lactiflora)
Is there anything more breathtaking than a peony in full bloom? These long-lived plants feature huge petals piled in voluptuous layers, forming fragrant 4-to-6-inch flowers in shades of white, yellow, coral, pink, and red on 3-to-4-foot tall plants. They’re a favorite in cottage gardens and mixed perennial borders, thriving in full to part sun.
18. Ligularia
Picture glowing embers erupting above glossy palmate leaves in 3-to-8-foot spikes or clusters of daisy-like golden flowers in summer. Ligularia is a jungle-looking plant that loves moist shade and deep, rich soils.
19. Goatsbeard (Aruncus)
Imagine a huge, bushy native plant growing 4 to 6 feet tall with lacy foliage under graceful, feathery white sprays of blossoms in summer. Goatsbeard is an easy-going perennial that loves both sun and shade and grows in average soil.
20. Astilbe
Picture a colorful, smaller version of Goatsbeard with colony-forming, 1-to-4-foot tall plants astounding in feathery plumes of red, pink, and white throughout summer. Astilbe is a lover of rain gardens in the shade, tolerating excess moisture and acidic soils.
21. Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea)
Enchanting to the eye, Foxglove’s 2-to-5-foot speckled whorls of tubular flowers are gorgeous in spring, although they are poisonous. These beauties tolerate challenging dry shade and thrive in full sun to part shade in well-drained soils.
22. Globe Thistle (Echinops)
With spikey foliage that deters deer and blue spherical blooms that appear through summer on 2-to-5-foot tall plants, Globe Thistle is an excellent choice for attracting butterflies to your garden. It’s drought-tolerant and perfect for rock gardens, preferring full sun.
23. Larkspur (Delphinium)
Imagine stacked flowers whorling around skyscraper stalks in summer, reaching 3 to 8 feet tall in iridescent pale blue, vibrant pinks, and deep purples. Delphiniums thrive in alkaline soils that are moist and fertile, making them perfect for cottage gardens and the back of perennial borders in full sun.
24. Bleeding Hearts (Lamprocapnos spectabilis)
Known for their finely divided foliage and spring-blooming, dancing, dangling, heart-shaped pink, white, and red flowers hanging from graceful arching stems, classic Bleeding Hearts are a deer-resistant delight. They help fill out the shade garden, preferring moist, rich, well-draining soil.
25. Sage (Salvia)
With varieties growing 1 to 2 feet tall and featuring spikes of blue, purple, pink, and red flowers throughout the summer months, aromatic Sage is a drought-tolerant, deer-resistant herb that’s beautiful in perennial borders and herb gardens. It thrives in full sun once established.
26. Foamflower (Tiarella)
Picture gorgeous, hairy, colorful, and segmented foliage topped with glowing soft plumes of white flowers in spring, reaching up to 2 feet tall. Foamflowers are native plants that love cool, moist, rich soils and shade to light shade, colonizing to form an interesting carpet of color.
27. Lamb’s Ear (Stachys byzantina)
With soft, velvety, gray-green oval leaves forming a ground cover that spreads 4 to 5 feet wide and delightful purple flower spikes under 2 feet tall in spring and summer, Lamb’s Ear is an easy-going, deer-resistant perennial. It grows best in full sun to part shade in dry to medium soils.
There you have it, my fellow gardening enthusiasts – 27 stunning deer-resistant perennial flowers to keep your backyard blooming and free from those hungry herbivores! Remember, every garden is unique, so don’t be afraid to experiment and find the perfect combination of plants that works for you. Happy gardening, and may your backyard be a colorful, deer-free oasis!