- Deer-Resistant Perennials
- Question of the Week - Liriope
- Bletilla striata

Deer-Resistant Perennials

Below I have listed my experience with deer and perennials. As always, I welcome any comments you may have. I encourage you to go back to my comments on deer habits, which were featured in last week’s newsletter. With the deer-resistant plants featured below, Carroll Gardens carries over 850 plants that are deer-resistant.

For perennials, deer dislike 3 categories of plants:

• Those with felted leaves such as lamb’s ears.

• Those with aromatic leaves such as the ornamental oregano and other herbal perennials.

• Those that are poisonous.

I have found that if a garden consists primarily of deer-resistant perennials, it is possible to intersperse (away from the border edge) a few of their most favorite plants.  This is best accomplished among aromatic leaved plants.  However, it is possible to grow even tulips in a large daffodil bed.

Monarda (Beebalm, Bergamot)
 didyma Colrain Red

Foxglove (Digitalis)
 grandiflora (ambigua)

Pampas Grass - Cortaderia
 selloana Pumila

Tickseed (Coreopsis)
  Tequilla Sunrise

Alan's Picks of Deer-Resistant Perennials, Bulbs, & Herbs

Agave and Cactus
Anise Hyssop (Agastache)
Archangel (Lamiastrum and Lamium)
Bamboo
*Bishop’s Hat (Epimedium)
Bear’s Breeches (Acanthus)
Beebalm (Monarda)
Bleeding Heart (Dicentra)
Blue Fescue Grass
Blue Star (Amsonia)
Butterfly Flower (Asclepias)
Catmint (Nepeta)
Comfrey (Symphytum)
Daffodils (Narcissus)
False Indigo (Baptisia)
False Solomon’s Seal (Smilacina)
Feather Reed Grass (Calamagrostis)
Ferns (most, except Japanese Silver Painted)
Fountain Grass (Pennisetum)
Foxglove (Digitalis)
Gas Plant (Dictamnus)
Germander (Teucrium)
Ginger (Asarum)
Goatsbeard (Aruncus)
Hardy Cyclamen
Hardy Geraniums (especially aromatic-leaved varieties such as Geranium macrorrhizum)
Helleborus
*Hyacinth
Iris (especially bearded iris)
Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum)
Lamb’s Ears (Stachys lanata)
Lavender (Lavandula)
Lavender Cotton (Santolina)
*Lily of the Nile (Agapanthus)
Lily of the Valley (Convallaria)
*Lungwort (Pulmonaria)
Miscanthus Grass
Mondo Grass (Ophiopogon)
Monkshood (Aconitum)
Mountain Balm (Calamintha)
Ornamental Onion (Allium)
Ornamental Oregano
Ornamental Rhubarb (Rheum)
Pachysandra
Pampas Grass (Cortaderia)
Peonies (Paeonia)
Periwinkle (Vinca)
Plumbago (Ceratostigma)
Rose Campion (especially felt-leaved varieties such as Lychnis coronaria)
Rosemary
Russian Sage (Pervoskia)
Salvias and Sages
*Scilla
Soapwort (Saponaria)
Spiderwort (Tradescantia)
Spurge (Euphorbia)
St. John’s Wort (Hypericum)
Sweet Woodruff (Asperula)
Tansy
Thyme
Tickseed (Coreopsis, especially verticillata types)
Water Lily (Colchicum)
Wormwood (Artemisia)
Yarrow (Achillea)
Yucca 

*withstands moderate deer pressure; will not withstand really intense foraging.

Click here for more information about any of the Deer-Resistant plants mentioned above.

Question of the Week

Question:
My Liriope (Lily Turf) looks awful from this winter. Can I cut it back now?
 
Answer:
Yes, Liriope usually needs a “haircut” in the early spring. The old foliage should be cut to the ground. However, you must be careful not to cut off the tips from the emerging new leaves.
 
Earlier in the season this could have been accomplished with the use of a string trimmer. I suspect that by now the new shoots will have emerged so far above the soil that the string trimmer will damage them. Instead, I suggest you use old time grass shears, paying particular attention to stay away from the tips of the tender new shoots.

Featured Plant - Bletilla striata

Also known as the Hardy Chinese Ground Orchid, Bletillas are one of the easiest orchids to grow.   Pictured to the right is Bletilla striata.  It features sprays of purple-pink flowers, highlighted with white, with blooms that appear for 6 weeks or more in early summer. Its ribbed, arching leaves grow from tuberous rootstocks. Bletilla makes an excellent unconventional addition to your garden, and can also be grown in containers.  It reaches a height of approximately 18 inches, and has a preference for partial shade.  For more information or to order Bletilla striata, please click here.

Carroll Gardens also has available:

• s. Alba - white form of the above

• s. Hyacinthina - features light pink blooms

• s. Variegata - boasts white stripes primarily along the leaf margins, with typical orchid-colored blooms

• s. Variegata albaflora - white flowers and white leaf variegation

I hope this newsletter has provided you with some greater insight with respect to deer-resistant perennials, as well as the other topics covered.  As always, I welcome any feedback or comments you may have.  Our next newsletter will discuss spring care for Boxwoods.

Happy Gardening,

Alan Summers