Deer vs. Gardener Scorecard:
It seems that deer prefer leaves, buds, or flowers of different plants and for sure they do not really care if the plant is labeled “deer resistant.” My “rare” wild tulips were marked deer resistant. BUT, in the early spring, when they were only four inches high, all the leaves went into a “deer salad.”
[Click to see several DEER ISSUE articles: https://gardenbytheseaoceanshores.org/category/deer/ ]
After crying, “I should have known,” I continued to water them “just in case.” In the end, that paid off. By early May I had a bed of leafless sprawling tulip flowers. Deer liked only the leaves.
I transplanted an overlarge lupine plant from Garden by the Sea’s, our community garden’s pollinator bed into my test bed. I thought they were going to be OK, since they are marked deer resistant on several lists. Until one day I came out to check, and every flower stalk was gone, but the fan-like leaves were left alone. Deer liked only the flowers.
I tried some “deer resistant” hyacinths in the test beds. They came up, bloomed, and were about to be transplanted into my overall landscape. But, after I cut off the fading flowers, the deer came and gnawed them completely to the ground. Deer liked only the leaves.
They ate the buds of my Siberian Iris, but if the buds open fast enough, the flowers and leaves were fine. Strangely, they ate only the petals of my miniature daisy flowers, avoiding the flower “center pads” as well as the leaves. You never can tell about Ocean Shores deer.
Score: Ocean Shores Deer – 4 … Coastal Gardener – 0 … Maybe I will try …?
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For questions, comments about this article or to share your gardening experiences, please contact Dauna at: dauna@gardenbytheseaoceanshores.org
This article was originally printed in The Ocean Observer, July 2020.
