Are you trying to keepdeer out of your garden?
In general, plants with an intense herbal fragrance or fuzzy or toxic leaves tend to get left alone.
Theeasy-to-grow rosemaryis an ideal plant for those with less-than-green thumbs because it can actually suffer from too much attention.
Credit: Robert Muckley/Getty Images
Planting it in light, well-draining soil on the drier side is key to keeping it happy.
Spray infested rosemary plants with insecticidal soap or neem oil.
Marigolds
The darlings of summertime,marigoldsare robust and practically trouble-free.
Credit: Robbie Caponetto
They adapt to most well-drained soils and are drought-tolerant once established.
These annuals blooms from early summer to frost as long as you keep the old flowers picked off.
Plant strong-scented marigolds around your vegetable garden to help repel unwanted insects and deer.
Credit: Van Chaplin
Tall and dramatic cleome can look like alovely flowering shrubwhen you plant several together.
Cleome seeds freely, resulting in many new flowers popping up around your garden the following spring.
To avoid this, you’ve got the option to remove spent flowers before they go to seed.
Credit: schnuddel/Getty Images
Choose wisely and plantAmerican wisteria, the less invasive alternative.
There are ground-hugging versions and tall, wispy plants.
Use verbena as ground cover or as fillers in container gardens.
Credit: emer1940/Getty Images
In summer, the upright stems are topped by tight clusters of flowers.
They are resistant to deer andrabbits.
Prune every three years to encourage a new flush of growth and lots of flowers.
Credit: Robbie Caponetto
Another plus: They bloom from early spring right through the fall.
This bedding flower is grown as an annual in areas that experience frost.
In a hot climate, give it filtered shade or morning sun and afternoon shade.
Credit: Ralph Lee Anderson
Although we’ll cross the street to breathe in star jasmine’s perfume, deer will steer clear.
Star jasmine is shade-tolerant and can be trained as a vine or low-growing hedge.
These ornamental onions produce a strong flavor and smell that is unattractive to deer.
Credit: Linjerry/Getty Images
Note that overly damp soil can cause bulb rot and other issues.
Foxgloves are perhaps the easiest of the towering flowering plants to grow.
Use foxglove to fill aboxwood-edgedflower bed, or mass them at the back of perennial borders.
Credit:Diana Kirby
Hummingbirds are attracted to the tubular, finger-like flowers.
Deer and rabbits are not.
Coleus
Elegant, vibrant coleus is a must in every garden.
Credit: Robbie Caponetto
It’s the rare plant that can be the perfect star or the just-right backdrop.
Most varieties do well indappled shadeor partial shade, but there are newer varieties that can take more sun.
You’ll love coleus for its colorful foliage, but deer will ignore it.
Credit: Art Meripol
The narrow and oval deep purple leaves protect a tiny purple flower.
Use as ground cover or as a bedding or potting plant.
Frost may kill the tops, but these plants recover fast in warm weather.
Credit: Remedios/Getty Images
Chives
You gotta love multipurpose plants in the garden, andhardy perennial chivesdo it all.
They hate the oniony scent.
Broad clusters of brightly colored flowers appear in midsummer, attracting swarms of butterflies.
Best of all, this plant requires little care and is exceptionally drought-tolerant.
Coreopsis will attract butterflies and bees though.
There are thread-leaf and ear-leaf versions, and newer varieties available in peach or pink.
Credit: Patrick Standish
Shear or deadhead flowers to prolong blooming.
Often started from seed, cosmos is moderately deer-resistant and a prolific grower.
The more you cut, the more flowers you’ll get.
Credit: Nadtochiy/Getty Images
We love this evergreen fern, but deer (and rabbits) don’t.
Luckily, deer turn their noses up at coneflowerthe spiny center is a turn-off.
Though it prefers loamy soil, coneflower can adapt to many soil types and is drought-tolerant once established.
Credit: Jacky Parker Photography / Getty Images
This drought-resistant plant doesn’t mind hot, humid summers as long as you plant it in well-drained soil.
Hybrids have expanded the color palette to pinks, reds, and purples.
Credit: Imagesbybarbara/Getty Images
Credit: Ralph Anderson
Credit: Getty Images
Credit: Max Ryazanov / Getty Images
Credit: Robert W. Domm/Getty Images
Credit: Mandy Disher Photography/Getty Images
Credit: Getty Images
Credit: Steve Bender
Credit: Sandra Clegg/Getty Images
Credit: Gail Shotlander / Getty Images
