27 Deer Resistant Perennial Plants For Your Garden

Gardening is always a game of give and take. It is alive, and part of the ecosystem. There will always be things attacking and eating it. From bugs and slugs to squirrels and rabbits. To some extent, this is the price we pay to have beautiful gardens.

One of the larger pests that come into our gardens, and wreak havoc, are the most innocent looking creatures. I’m talking about deer. These wide eyed majestic animals can turn our gardens, our hours of hard work, into a midnight garden buffet. It is frustrating, to say the least.

While there are many solutions to deter deer. From chemical sprays to fencing, or even a yappy dog. Sometimes, the best deterrent is simply planting the things they don’t like so they avoid your garden altogether. Creating a beautiful garden that deer dislike is possible.

Plant Traits That Repel Deer

There are three main attributes that plants have that a deer does not like. Some have a combination of the three that make it even less appealing to a deer. Let’s take a look at the most common plant traits that will repel deer from your garden.

Deer Resistant Perennials

There are many different types of deer resistant perennial plants, from garden grass, to flowers and shrubs. What you pick, will depend on your garden goals, your geography, and also likely the amount of deer you have in your area. Let’s take a deeper look into our favorite perennials that will keep the deer away from your garden space.

Allium

Scientific Name: Allium

• Type: Bulb
• Geographic Origin: Asia
• Plant Size: Up to 5 feet tall, 1 foot wide
• Sun Exposure: full-part sun
• Plant Zone: 3-9
• Toxic: Yes

I love Allium. They are fall-planted bulbs that produce these magical purple perennial blooms floating on green stems in the spring. Like lollipops in the garden. They are members of the onion family and do not taste very good, so deer tend to avoid them.

Bearded Iris

Scientific Name: Iris x germanica

• Type: Perennial 
• Geographic Origin: Europe 
• Plant Size: Variety dependant, up to 4 feet high, 2 feet wide
• Sun Exposure:  full-part sun
• Plant Zone: 3-9

Iris is a classic garden perennial flower. The thick flat blades of foliage are up in early spring. Then the unmistakable iris flower blooms shortly after. The ruffled flower has three upward petals and three downward petals. It is often purple, but there are actually a variety of colors, including yellow, and peach. 

Make sure the tubers (rhizomes) are not buried in the soil, or they will not bloom. Deer don’t like eating the fleshy flat leaves of Irises.

Bee Balm

Scientific Name: Monarda

• Type: Perennial
• Geographic Origin: USA and Canada
• Plant Size: up to 3 feet tall (some varieties are taller or shorter), 2 feet wide
• Sun Exposure:  full-part sun
• Plant Zone: 3-9

Bee balm is a bergamot scented perennial (think earl grey tea). It features tufts of shaggy petaled flowers that emerge from the collar and then out the top. It always reminds me of a muppet. Its blooms are long lasting in the summer and it attracts lots of pollinators. 

Deer do not like the strong scent of it and will steer clear.

Black Mondo Grass

Scientific Name: Ophiopogon planiscapus

• Type: Evergreen perennial
• Geographic Origin: Japan
• Plant Size: 1 foot tall and 1 foot wide 
• Sun Exposure:  full-part sun
• Plant Zone: 5-10

Black mondo grass is a small clumping groundcover. Its intense dark burgundy/black color and the fine grass texture make this evergreen perennial really stand out. Pair it with bright chartreuse plants. Angelina sedum is a classic pairing with black mondo grass, and it also happens to be deer resistant. 

Deer tend to avoid the dry grassy texture of black mondo grass.

Black-eyed Susans

Scientific Name: Rudbeckia

• Type: Perennial 
• Geographic Origin: USA
• Plant Size: Variety dependant up to 7 feet high, 2 feet wide
• Sun Exposure:  full sun
• Plant Zone: 3-9

Black-eyed Susans are a sure sign that fall has arrived. It has big cone-shaped flowers with bright yellow petals and a black center. Tuck these cheerful flowers throughout your perennial beds to add a pop of fall color after many other perennials are finished blooming.

Black-eyed Susans have prickly fuzzy leaves and stems that are not tasty for deer.

Bleeding Heart

Scientific Name: Lamprocapnos spectabilis

• Type: Perennial
• Geographic Origin: China and Japan
• Plant Size: 3 feet high, 2 feet wide
• Sun Exposure:  part sun-shade
• Plant Zone: 3-9

Bleeding Heart is an old-fashioned garden favorite. This perennial thrives in the shade and grows big and lush in the early spring. Then it shoots out tendrils filled with floating pink heart-shaped flowers. 

This plant is actually toxic, so deer won’t go near it. But they may trample its tender hollow stems in order to get to something more delicious.

Blue Oat Grass

Scientific Name: Helictotrichon sempervirens

• Type: Ornamental grass
• Geographic Origin: Europe
• Plant Size: 3 feet high, 2 feet wide
• Sun Exposure:  full sun
• Plant Zone: 4-9

Blue oat grass is a wonderful ornamental grass. It forms a beautiful blue orb of fine, spiky grass. The flowers look great on garden borders. It has an easy, low-maintenance vibe.

Pair it with purple foliage plants such as ‘Black Lace’ Elderberry (which is also deer resistant) for a real pop. I also like it tucked up against large landscape rocks. Deer don’t like the spiky dry texture of the grass.

Castor Bean

Scientific Name: Ricinus communis

• Type: up to 10 feet tall, 4 feet wide
• Geographic Origin: Europe and Asia
• Plant Size: Africa
• Sun Exposure: Full Sun
• Plant Zone: 9-11
• Toxic: Yes

Castor beans are a tender perennial that will make heads turn. They look wild! In lower zones, Castor beans will grow large as an annual in a single season. They have big pointed hand-shaped leaves with fuzzy orange poufs of flowers.

The leaf itself is tinged purplish and some of the leaves will grow over a foot in diameter! Plant them in large containers, like a barrel planter as they will grow to the size of the container.    

These fast-growing perennials will not be munched in by deer because they are very poisonous.

Catmint

Scientific Name: Nepeta

• Type: Perennial
• Geographic Origin: Europe and Asia
• Plant Size: 2 feet high, 2 feet wide
• Sun Exposure:  full sun
• Plant Zone: 3-9

Catmint has an unmistakable soapy smell. It’s a lavender-like scent. It’s a fairly large mounding perennial that is very hardy and fills a space. This perennial grows low to the ground, and makes for great garden borders. It has small leaves and purple flowers in the summer that the bees love. It has a great cottage garden vibe.

Deer do not like its strong odor. But cats do, so you may have fewer deer but more cats hanging in your garden.

Daffodil

Scientific Name: Narcissus

• Type: Bulb
• Geographic Origin: Europe
• Plant Size: 1 foot high, 3 inches wide
• Sun Exposure: full sun
• Plant Zone: 3-8
• Toxic: Yes

Spring bulbs can be a delicacy for deer. Tulips are delicious, they will devour them to stumps. It is so frustrating to see all the first flowers of the season be destroyed.

If this happens to you, try planting daffodils. They are poisonous and the deer will avoid them. Plus their sunny yellow faces are a sure sign that spring has arrived.

Elephant Ear

Scientific Name: Alocasia

• Type: Tender perennial
• Geographic Origin: Asia, Australia
• Plant Size: Variety dependant
• Sun Exposure: Part sun-shade
• Plant Zone: 10+
• Toxic: Yes

Alocasia is a very tender perennial. They have lovely green arrow shaped foliage. There are many varieties, large elephant ears and regal shields, to small african masks and coffee cups. For gardens below zone 9, treat them as an annual or bring them indoors over the winter.

Deer avoid them because they are toxic.  Oxalic acid is the toxin found in all members of the araceae family, including alocasia.

Foxglove

Scientific Name: Digitalis

• Type: Biennial
• Geographic Origin: Europe
• Plant Size: 3 feet tall, 1 foot wide
• Sun Exposure: full-part sun
• Plant Zone: 4-10
• Toxic: Yes

Foxglove is a gorgeous biennial flower. It has tall spikes of bell shaped flowers that have the most intricate colors and spots in them. They are also poisonous and will be completely avoided by deer. Check to see if foxglove is an invasive species in your area before planting. Keep it under control in your garden if you love it.

Globe Thistle

Scientific Name: Echinops

• Type: Perennial
• Geographic Origin: Asia and Europe
• Plant Size: up to 4 feet tall, 3 feet wide
• Sun Exposure:  full sun
• Plant Zone: 3-9

Globe thistle is a unique perennial. It has silvery foliage that has a sharp thistle texture. It flowers purple spiky balls. They flower in mid-late summer and stay intact well into the fall.

This perennial likes full sun and tolerates poor soil conditions and is drought tolerant. Deer do not like the prickly thistle leaves or the sharp spiky flowers.

Goatsbeard

Scientific Name: Aruncus dioicus

• Type: Perennial
• Geographic Origin: North America, Europe, Asia
• Plant Size: variety dependant, commonly feet by 4 feet
• Sun Exposure:  full-part sun
• Plant Zone: 3-7

Goatsbeard is a nice large-sized perennial that produces plumes of feathery white flowers in the summer. It has limey green foliage and can grow large and shrub-like.

Goatsbeard is a toxic plant and deer will not touch it.

Lantana

Scientific Name: Lantana camara

• Type: Tender perennial
• Geographic Origin: Central and South America
• Plant Size: Variety dependant
• Sun Exposure: full
• Plant Zone: 7-11
• Toxic: Yes

Lantana is a beautiful flower.  In the colder zones it can be planted as an annual flower. It has big clusters of flowers all over it. They come in a variety of colors and patterns. They are well known to bloom through the entire year if planted in the proper climate.

Deer don’t like the leathery leafy texture. Nor do they like the scent of their crushed leaves (I think it is kind of lemony smelling). Use Lantana in garden beds or in containers.

Lavender

Scientific Name: Lavandula

• Type: Woody perennial
• Geographic Origin: Europe, Africa, Asia
• Plant Size: 2-3 feet tall, up to 4 feet wide
• Sun Exposure: full sun
• Plant Zone: 5-8
• Toxic: Yes

The pungent smell of lavender and their dry woody foliage prevents deer from munching on them. Lavender is a low growing perennial that likes lots of sun and sandy soil.

It produces lovely spikes of purple flowers. And of course, it smells lovely (to humans anyways). For lower zone gardeners try Munstead Lavender, which is perennial as low as zone 4. There are many other types of lavender to choose from, depending on your hardiness zone.

Ligularia 

Scientific Name: Ligularia 

• Type: Perennial
• Geographic Origin: China
• Plant Size: 6-7 feet high, 3 feet wide
• Sun Exposure:  part shade
• Plant Zone: 3-8

Ligularia is a tall, part shade perennial. It thrives in damp, boggy conditions. It has large leaves and bright yellow flowers. My favorite variety is ‘The Rocket’ which features jagged leaves and long stems of yellow flowers.

‘Othello’ is another nice variety, it has purple tinge lily pad-shaped leaves with clusters of daisy-like yellow leaves. Ligularia will take more sun if you can provide it with lots of water.

Deer don’t like their thick leaves and will usually leave this perennial alone.

Lily if the Nile

Scientific Name: Agapanthus

• Type: Perennial
• Geographic Origin: South Africa
• Plant Size: 2+ feet tall, 3 feet wide
• Sun Exposure: sun-part sun
• Plant Zone: 8-11
• Toxic: Yes

Lily of the Nile is a lovely perennial that can also be grown as an annual and over wintered indoors in colder zones. It has large spikes of purple or white flowers. Deer tend to avoid this one because of its thick grassy foliage and the scented flowers. A hungry enough deer will eat them, but under normal conditions, they will avoid them.

Lily of the Valley

Scientific Name: Convallaria majalis

• Type: Perennial groundcover
• Geographic Origin: Europe
• Plant Size: 6” tall, spreading
• Sun Exposure: part shade-shade
• Plant Zone: 3-9
• Toxic: Yes

Lily of the valley is a very hardy, very aggressive ground cover. Use caution when planting this one. It is very toxic, spreads wildly, and has thick roots that are hard to remove. It can take over a garden bed. It’s also one of the more popular plants in a shade garden.

Plant it in a contained area, or in an area where it is ok to freely spread around.  It has lovely bell-shaped flowers that bloom in spring and smell heavenly. Deer won’t touch this one, it is highly toxic.

Lungwort

Scientific Name: Pulmonaria 

• Type: Perennial
• Geographic Origin: Europe
• Plant Size: 1 foot tall, 1 ½ feet wide
• Sun Exposure:  part shade-shade
• Plant Zone: 3-8

Lungwort is a low-growing ground cover perennial. It is one of the few perennials that will tolerate dry shade. Lungwort is even known to grow under spruce trees. It blooms pretty bell-shaped flowers in pink and purple in the very early spring. Then it has lovely large pointed leaves that are covered in irregular spots. 

Lungwort has a fuzzy irritating texture. Deer don’t like it, and I recommend wearing gloves when dealing with it.

Monkshood

Scientific Name: Aconitum

• Type: Perennial
• Geographic Origin: Western and Central Europe
• Plant Size: 4 feet tall, 2 feet wide
• Sun Exposure: part shade
• Plant Zone: 3-7
• Toxic: Yes

Monkshood is one of the most toxic plants in the garden. All animals will avoid it. It grows tall and has purple, purple and white, or pink flowers that look like little hooded monks. These plants grow to be quite large and take up a lot of space (under the right conditions). It doesn’t self-seed and spread aggressively.

If you grow monkshood around the perimeter of your garden it will help repel deer because they know this one is not good to eat no matter how hungry they are.

Moss Phlox

Scientific Name: Phlox subulata

• Type: Perennial groundcover 
• Geographic Origin: USA
• Plant Size: 6 inches high, spreading
• Sun Exposure:  full sun-part shade
• Plant Zone: 3-9

In the summer moss phlox blooms into large pools of delicate blossoms. It is spectacular when it is in bloom, it fills up garden borders and creeps through rock beds. Then it has mossy evergreen foliage the rest of the season.

Deer do not like the spiky dry texture of moss phlox foliage.

Oriental Poppy

Scientific Name: Papaver orientale

• Type: Perennial
• Geographic Origin: Turkey, Iran, Caucasus
• Plant Size: 2 feet high, 2 feet wide
• Sun Exposure: full sun
• Plant Zone: 3-7
• Toxic: Mildly, yes

Oriental poppies are such a lovely sight in spring. Their big wide flowers stand out in a garden bed.  They come in red, orange, white, purple, and pink. Unlike the regular garden variety of poppy, the oriental poppy doesn’t spread, they stay put where they are planted.

Deer will avoid them as they are mildly toxic, and they don’t find their fuzzy leaves all too palatable.

Peony

Scientific Name: Paeonia

• Type: Perennial
• Geographic Origin:
• Plant Size: 3 feet tall, 3 feet wide
• Sun Exposure: full sun
• Plant Zone: 3-8
• Toxic: Yes

This one always amazes me, but it is true. Deer don’t really have a taste for peonies. They dislike their thick leathery leaves. They also dislike the fragrance of the flowers.

So if you are really dealing with a deer problem, consider planting one of the more scented peony varieties such as ‘edulis superba’.  But if there are no other choices, a deer will munch a peony.

Prickly Pear Cactus

Scientific Name: Opuntia Humifusa

• Type: Perennial succulent
• Geographic Origin: North America
• Plant Size: 1 foot tall, 18 inches wide, spreading
• Sun Exposure: full sun
• Plant Zone: 3-9
• Toxic: No

Deer will definitely avoid prickly pear cactus. The long spikes keep the deer away. Plus they are a unique and lovely perennial. They have beautiful flowers and are low maintenance.

I grow these in my front garden and I always have people commenting on the huge yellow blossoms on this unique spiky plant. Full sun and sandy soil is all they require. This is a native plant to many parts of the US, and makes a great choice for xeriscaping.

Red Hot Poker

Scientific Name: Kniphofia

• Type: Perennial
• Geographic Origin: Africa
• Plant Size: 1-3 feet high, 1 foot wide
• Sun Exposure:  full sun
• Plant Zone: 5-9

Red hot pokers are such a fun flower. This perennial has a grassy base, and then it shoots up rockets of flowers that go from yellow to red (also available in other colors, variety dependent). It is a very showy flower that will start blooming in early summer and keep on blooming until the fall.

This perennial is reported to be moderately deer resistant. If there are no other food sources it might munch one. But for the most part, the grassy texture foliage is not appealing to deer.

Russian Sage

Scientific Name: Perovskia atriplicifolia

• Type: Woody perennial
• Geographic Origin: Central Asia
• Plant Size: 3-5 feet high and wide
• Sun Exposure:  full sun
• Plant Zone: 4-9

Russian sage is a striking woody perennial to add to the garden. It has silvery foliage and purple spikes of flowers. It is a low maintenance perennial that requires little water or attention.  Deer don’t like its rough foliage or its pungent odor.