Deer Resistant Plants

Showing 25–32 of 170 results

  • Artemisia frigida Prairie sagewort, Silky wormwood Z 3-10

    Erect stems bear silvery-white, finely-divided foliage. Leaves smell like camphor. Inconspicuous yellow flowers bloom in summer. 

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    Erect stems bear silvery-white, finely-divided foliage. Leaves smell like camphor. Inconspicuous yellow flowers bloom in summer. 

    Size: 6-18” x 12-18”
    Care: sun in well-drained soil. Drought tolerant.
    Native: all North America except the SE, CA and OR, Wisconsin native
    Wildlife Value: source of nesting material for native bees, food for caterpillars of several butterflies & moths
    Awards: Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit

    Native Americans used this Artemisia to preserve meat, feed horses, repel insects, to remedy toothache, headache, coughing, lung ailments, heartburn, and colds. Indians in Great Basin used it in ceremonies. Chippewa made a decoction of root for convulsions. For the Lakota this was “women’s medicine” with an infusion helping regulate menstrual periods and induce contractions in pregnancy.
    Meriwether Lewis collected this along the Missouri River in South Dakota on October 3, 1804.

  • Artemisia lactiflora White mugwort Z 3-8

    Plumes of creamy white, resembling an astilbe, above foliage blackish-green on one side and silver on the other side, Blooms August to October

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    Blooms in plumes of creamy white, resembling an astilbe, above foliage blackish green on one side and silver on the other side.  Blooms August to October.

    Size: 4-5’ x 1.5-2’
    Care: sun to part shade in moist, well-drained soil.
    Native: East asia-China
    Wildlife Value: attracts butterflies & bees. Rabbit and Deer tolerant
    Awards: Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit

    Genus is named for Artemis, Greek goddess of the moon, wild animals, and hunting. Lactiflora means “milk-white flowers”

    Used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat menstrual & liver disorders, and reduce inflammation. Southeast Asians cook with its leaves and tender stems boiled or stir fried and added to soups. 1st described in Western literature 1837.

  • Asarum canadense syn. Hexastylis canadense Wild ginger Z 3-7

    Concealed brown bell-shaped flowers with flared tips hide under this groundcover's crinkled, lacquered leaves.

    $10.75/bareroot

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    Concealed brown bell-shaped flowers with flared tips hide under this groundcover’s lacquered leaves.

    Size: 6" x 6" spreading
    Care: part shade to shade, moist well-drained to well-drained soil
    Native: Canada to So. Carolina, Wisconsin native

    Native Americans used Wild ginger for such diverse purposes as flavoring food, curing heart palpitations, induce menstrual cycles, cure “the bite of the serpent,” mend broken bones, as a general tonic, a tea and lure catfish.  Winnebago tenderized raccoon meat with this. Colonists used the plant to break fever and stimulate the appetite. Studies in the last 50 years have showed that the roots contain antibiotics BUT also can damage kidneys and are possibly carcinogenic.

  • Asarum europaeum syn. Hexastylis europaeum European snakeroot, Wild ginger Z 4-9

    Glossy, polished, round leaves with purplish, sepia-toned bell-like flowers hidden by leaves.

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    Glossy, polished, round leaves with purplish, sepia-toned bell-like flowers hidden by leaves.

    Size: 4-6” x 12” slow spreader
    Care: shade to part shade in moist to moist well-drained acidic soil
    Native: Europe
    Awards: Elisabeth Carey Miller Garden Great Plant Pick & England’s Royal Horticultural Society Award of Merit.

    Identified by Dioscordies in De Materica Medica for medicinal use around 70 A.D.  According to Dioscorides in Roman times this plant cured ailments of the eyes, ears, stomach, mind, and the head. Grown in the Eichstätt Garden, the garden of Johann Konrad von Gemmingen, prince bishop of Eichstätt in Bavaria, c. 1600.     Gerard (1633) reported that this Wild ginger prevented increase of hard swelling cankers by topical application.  Powdered root mixed with wine cured sciatica, gout, dropsy, and ague.  The name Asarum comes from Greek phrase “to adorn” meaning it needs adornment.

  • Asclepias incarnata Swamp milkweed Z 3-9

    Fragrant medium pink umbels, like an upside down ballerina’s skirt, July – September. One of internationally known garden designer Piet Oudolf’s 100 “MUST HAVE” plants, Gardens Illustrated 94 (2013)

    $13.25/bareroot

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    Fragrant medium pink umbels, like an upside down ballerina’s skirt, July – September. One of internationally known garden designer Piet Oudolf’s 100 “MUST HAVE” plants, Gardens Illustrated 94 (2013)

    Size: 3’-4’ x 2-3’
    Care: Sun in moist to moist well-drained soil
    Native: North America – all states except those along the Pacific Coast – Wisconsin native.
    Wildlife Value: host for Monarch caterpillars, flowers are source of nectar for several butterflies

    Named after Asclepias, a Greek god of medicine.   Native American groups used Swamp milkweed – Chippewa to increase their strength & the stems made into twine; Iroquois to heal navels in babies, to increase or decrease urine and to make a person strong enough to punish witches; Meskwaki to drive out tapeworms; and Menominee used it as an ingredient in food – added to deer soup & cornmeal mush. Oneida used the root to remedy asthma and whooping cough.  They made thread to sew moccasins with the stems. Lakota Sioux: “The pulverized root is made into a salve which is used to treat swollen glands. The young seed pods are edible after cooking. An infusion of the roots is used to treat asthma, rheumatism, syphilis, and a weak heart.” Listed as growing in England in Philip Miller’s Gardeners’ Dictionary, 1768. Grown at America’s 1st botanic garden, Elgin Botanic Garden 1811. Pressed specimen in Emily Dickinson’s herbarium. “The downy parachutes . . . attached to each seed are six times more buoyant than cork and five times warmer than wool. Large quantities of milkweed were grown for use as stuffing in pillows and lifejackets during World War II.” USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.

  • Asclepias tuberosa Butterfly weed, Pleurisy-root Z 4-9

    Gorgeous - July - September bright orange cymes

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    Gorgeous – July – September bright orange cymes

    Size: 2-3' x 12"
    Care: Sun in well-drained to moist well-drained soil
    Native: East and south North America, Wisconsin native
    Wildlife Value: Host for Monarch caterpillars and its nectar is a favorite for 13 different butterflies: 4 Swallowtails, 2 Fritillaries, Checkered white, Spring azure, Small copper, Sachem, Monarch, and Coral and Gray hairstreaks. Attracts Ladybugs that eat many insect pests.
    Awards: Great Plants for Great Plains; Perennial Plant Assn. Plant of the Year 2017.

    Named after Asclepias, a Greek god of medicine.  Omaha Indians ate the raw root to cure bronchial and pulmonary ailments, their Shell Society was the authorized guardian of the plant, taking 4 days to dig, prepare and distribute the root.  Most important medicine for Menominee Indians.  The Iroquois smashed roots on legs to impart strength to runners.  Navajo cured coyote bites and flu with Butterfly weed. HoChunk placed masticated root into wounds. Collected and sent to England by Rev. John Banister in colonial Virginia c. 1680.  Cultivated by Jefferson. Pressed specimen in Emily Dickinson’s herbarium.

  • Aster laterifolius ‘Horizontalis’ syn Symphyotrichum laterifolius ‘Horizontalis’   Horizontal Calico Aster Z 4-8

    Unique horizontally branching aster covered in small pink and white daisy-like flowers with dark pink centers blooming in late summer-fall.  Foliage turns copper/purple in fall.

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    Unique horizontally branching aster covered in small pink and white daisy-like flowers with dark pink centers blooming in late summer-fall.  Foliage turns copper/purple in fall.

    Size: 24” x 24”
    Care: full sun to part shade in well-drained soil
    Native: Eastern and Central North America
    Wildlife Value: attracts bees and butterflies. Deer resistant, Black walnut resistant.
    Awards: RHS Award of Garden Merit

    First described by French botanist René Desfontaines (1750-1802). Harvard botanist Asa Gray named the variety in 1895.

  • Aster oblongifolius syn. Symphyotrichum oblongifolium, Aromatic aster Z 3-8

    Purplish blue daisies with yellow centers blooming in September to November, Good, bushy mound shape. Called “aromatic” for the fragrance of its leaves.  

    $13.25/bareroot

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    Purplish blue daisies with yellow centers blooming in September to November, Good, bushy mound shape. Called “aromatic” for the fragrance of its leaves.

    Size: 1-2’ x 1-3’
    Care: sun to shade in well-drained to moist well-drained soil
    Native: Pennsylvania to No. Carolina west to Wyoming & Texas, Wisconsin native
    Wildlife Value: Bees collect pollen and nectar from it. Medium sized butterflies collect its nectar. Its leaves support Silvery checkerspot and some moth caterpillars, Deer resistant.
    Size: Navajo made a decoction of this to protect against witches.

    Aster means star, referring to the flower’s form.  Navajo made a decoction of this to protect against witches.
    Meriwether Lewis collected this on the Expedition September 21, 1804, the day after nearly being swept away while Lewis and the Corps of discovery slept on an eroding sandbar, near the Big Bend of the Missouri River in South Dakota. 1st published description by planthunter Thomas Nuttall (1786-1879) in 1818.

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