Native Plants that are Deer Resistant

October 25th, 2022 by georgann

There is no such thing as a 100% deer proof plant, but these are plants that are rarely browsed, or only browsed during starvation conditions. Browse damage also depends on the availability of food, size and health of the herd and weather.

Scientific name                     Common name                      Scientific name                     Common name

Achillea millefolium                 Yarrow                                     Helenium autumnale              Sneezeweed

Acorus calamus                      Sweet flag                               Heuchera richardsonii             Prairie alum root

Agastache foeniculum            Lavendar hyssop                    Hypericum pyramidatum         Great St. John’s wort

Allium cernuum                       Nodding wild onion                 Iris virginica                             Blue flag iris

Andropogon gerardii               Big Bluestem                           Juncus effusus                        Common rush

Antennaria parlinii                   Smooth pussytoes                  Koeleria pyramidata                June grass

Aquilegia canadensis             Wild columbine                       Leersia oryzoides                   Rice cut grass

Arisema triphylum                   Jack-in-the-pulpit                    Liatris aspera                          Rough blazing star

Asarum canadense                 Wild ginger                              Liatris pycnostachya              Prairie blazing star

Asclepias syriaca                    Common milkweed                 Lupinus perennis                    Wild lupine

Asclepias tuberosa                 Butterfly milkweed                  Lycopus americanus               Common water
                                                                                                       horehound

Asclepias verticillata               Whorled milkweed                  Mentha arvensis v. villosa      Wild mint

Aster novae-angilae                New England aster                 Monardo fistulosa                   Wild bergamot

Baptisia lactea                        Wild white indigo                     Monarda punctata                   Horse mint

Bouteloua cutipendula            Side-oats gramma                 Opuntia humifusa                    Eastern prickly pear

Campanula americana           Tall bellflower                          Panicum virgatum                   Switchgrass

Carex bicknellii                       Copper-shouldered oval         Penstemon digitalis                Foxglove beard       
                                                     sedge                                                                                         tongue

Carex brevior                          Plains oval sedge                   Polygonatum biflorum             Smooth Solomon’s
                                                                                                                                                        seal

Carex cristatella                      Crested oval sedge                 Potentilla arguta                      Prairie Cinquefoil

Carex frankii                            Bristly cattail sedge                 Pycnanthermum tenuifolium   Mountain mint

Carex lupulina                         Common hop sedge               Ratibida pinnata                      Yellow coneflower

Carex lurida                            Bottlebrush sedge                   Rubeckia hirta                         Black-eyed Susan

Carex stipata                           Common fox sedge                Schizachyrium scoparium      Little bluestem

Carex vulpinoidea                  Brown fox sedge                     Scirpus acutus                        hard-stemmed
                                                                                                                                                       bulrush

Caulophyllum                          Blue cohosh                            Scirpus atrovirens                   Dark green rush
      thalictroides         

Chelone glabra                       Turtlehead                               Scirpus cyperinus                   Wool grass

Coreopsis lancelota                Sand coreopsis                       Scirpus fluviatilis                     River bulrush

Coreopsis palmata                  Prairie coreopsis                     Scirpus pendulus                    Red bulrush

Coreopsis tripteris                   Tall coreopsis                          Scirpus pungens                     Chairmaker’s bulrush

Dicentra spectabilis                Bleeding heart                       Scirpus validus                       Great bulrush

Dodecatheon meadia             Shooting star                           Silphium integrifolium             Rosin weed

Echinacea pallida                   Purple coneflower                   Silphium lacinatum                 Compass plant

Echinacea purpurea               Broad-leaved purple               Silphium terbinthinaceum        Prairie dock
                                                      coneflower

Elymus hystix                         Bottlebrush grass                    Solidago rigida                        Stiff goldenrod

Eryngium yuccifolium             Rattlesnake master                 Sorghastrum nutans               Indian grass

Eupatorium maculatum          Spotted joe-pye weed             Teucrium canadense              Germander

Eupatorium perfoliatum          Common boneset                   Tradescantia ohioensis          Common spiderwort

Euphorbia corollata                 Flowering spurge                    Verbesina alternifolia              Wingstem

Geranium maculatum             Wild geranium                         Various Ferns

Sources: JFNew 2007 Resource Catalog (Walkerton, IN) and Deer-Resistant Landscape Nursery (Clare, MI)