Since it is raining out, I take advantage of a rainy day and catch up on my computer work, write blogs and articles, emails, create new splash pages and banners, etc.

If you don’t know, offline I own/operate a mini garden center and gift shop and I do this right at my home – I was tied down to a building for 25 years and never got to enjoy my yard, gardens – so after the divorce I decided to move that part of the business to my home and my customers enjoy touring my gardens when they come to shop.

That is the reason for this post as in our area (zone 4) one of the most asked question that I get – is there some plants that the deer don’t eat – I’m getting tired of planting stuff and the deer eat it all. Well, the answer is YES. yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhh huh?

My favorite annuals that I use in my yard (and the deer bed in my back yard) are Red Fountain Grass (annual in our zone but perennial in warmer zones), Cleome – I really like this one but be careful where you put them as in the fall the seeds will burst open and you will have lot of babies next year. Lemon Gem Marigolds – this is different than your normal Marigolds as the foliage is fern textured and the flowers are a dainty little yellow flower. The best part with these is the foliage as when you brush the foliage – it smells like lemons – cool huh. There is also Tangerine Gem Marigolds and yes the foliage smells like tangerines and they have dainty orange flowers. All these need sunny area and then I plant begonias in my shady areas.

The perennials that I have had luck with is for a shady area is Ligularia. These plants are just awesome and there are many varieties of them – you can get big leaf ones that will grow 3 – 4 feet. Then there is the narrow-spiked with gorgeous yellow flowers and then also can grow to 4 – 5 feet – keeping in mind that they are including the height to the tip of the flowers. Over the years, they have come out with many more varieties, medium height, maroon foliage ones – so I have a whole garden of just Ligularia and I just love them.

Another one of my favorites for shade is Cimicifuga (Snakeroot) this plant – wow what gorgeous darker foliage and blooms late in the fall with tiny, creamy-white flowers. One more shade that is worth mentioning is Jacob’s Ladder and my favorite is Stairway to Heaven – it has variegated foliage and tiny blue flowers.

Sun perennials that I love using are Siberian Iris – they bloom early in the spring and the royal blue of the flowers are breath-taking. The other that I really like is Penstemon (Beardtongue) this one has a darker foliage and tiny white flowers. Another is Salvia (this is in the sage family) there are many varieties of this wonderful plant and the one that I have is May Night Salvia (the deer don’t like the smell and can’t really blame them hehehe) Digitalis (Foxglove) and this one will attract hummingbirds – will need staking but worth the work. Eupatorium (Joe Pye Weed) if you need a plant to use for a back drop in a garden – this is the one as it grows 3 – 6 feet tall and give it plenty of room as the clump will get bigger each year. One of my grandma’s favorite and I even have some plants from her is Peony – you get a variety of colors and blooms in the spring. Now I saved my most recommended one till the end and that is Perovskia (Russian Sage) again in the sage family – but if given enough room this perennial will get the size of a shrub and starts blooming in late July thru the fall with beautiful blue flowers and these are great for drying.

Well, as you can see, I could go on and on but these are some of my favorites – so yes you can garden when you have deer around.

REMEMBER: With perennials – 1st year they sleep, 2nd year they creep and 3rd year they leap – so be patient with your perennials.