Flowers this year

[nancyruhl]

Ah, the deer population. That is a real issue. They are a strange group of munchers. I find they will try just about anything new. I strongly suggest that for a couple of years, you keep your beds off limits. Once they are established as off limits, they stay off their grazing trail. They regularly eat my columbine. They do not bother monarda, butterfly weed, gaillardia, daisy, snapdragon, foxglove. They have munched the flowers off coreopsis, zinnia, salvia, some coneflowers. I finally moved my most prized ones to my itty bitty deer free zone, along with all my hydrangeas and sedums, and peonies. They also don't touch snapdragons and alyssum. They ate the chrysanthemums last year, just because they were something new. They just can't taste yummy. I don't have experience with lupine because they are a short lived perennial and I want something that will endure. Same with all those pretty foxgloves, except mertonsis which is a true perennial.