Attractive Characteristics

• Deer prefer to browse nutritious perennials, such as those found in fertilized and irrigated landscapes. New growth, tender buds and soft foliage with a high moisture content are especially attractive. In times of drought and in springtime, deer will eat almost anything. This behavior is especially true of female deer that are pregnant or nursing.
  
  

Repellent Characteristics

• Certain perennials tend to repel deer. These include plants with prickly, rough or tough foliage, or spiny stems. Deer don't usually like perennials with a strong smell or taste, such as herbs, or plants with a bitter flavor. Plants that produce thick sap and those with hairy leaves also tend to prove unattractive. Deer often avoid plants with gray-hued foliage.
  
  

Rarely Damaged

• Though deer preferences vary by season, climate and region, some perennials rarely sustain deer damage. These include angel's trumpet, anise hyssop, aster, blanket flower, butterfly weed, candytuft, coreopsis, crocus, dianthus, false indigo, foxglove, globe thistle, lamb's ear, lantana, lavender cotton, Lenten rose, peony, poppy, society garlic, wallflower, wormwood and yarrow.
  
  Perennial herbs tend to repel deer with their strong aromas and tastes. These include alliums, catmint, lavender, marjoram, oregano, thyme, rosemary, sage and tarragon. Deer also tend to avoid most species of perennial ferns. Especially resistant species include Christmas, cinnamon, Florida shield, lady, royal and Southern maiden-hair.
  
  

Occasionally Damaged

• Perennials that sometimes sustain deer damage include Black-eyed Susan, gerbera and Shasta daisies, hardy hibiscus, hardy ice plant, hollyhock, iris, phlox, rose mallow, sedum, verbena and Veronica. Perennial vines such as climbing and spreading liriope, Japanese wisteria, Lady Banks rose and Virginia creeper also sustain occasional deer damage.
  
  

Frequently Damaged

• Deer find certain perennials tasty at any time of year. If you want to attract deer to your yard, plant species such as candy lilies, clematis, daylilies, English ivy, hardy geranium, hostas, hydrangea, impatiens, sea holly, strawberries and winter creeper. If you want to protect these vulnerable plants, keep them behind a fence, or plant other, more deer-resistant perennials around them to deter deer.