Native Plants

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A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

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Wednesday - September 22, 2010

From: Arlington, VA
Region: Mid-Atlantic
Topic: Deer Resistant
Title: Deer Resistant Plants for Northern Virginia
Answered by: Mike Tomme

QUESTION:

I'm looking for deer resistant shade plants in Northern Virginia. The deer have devoured my hostas, impatiens and native toad lily plants, day lilies.

ANSWER:

One of the advantages of using native plants in a landscape is that natives are generally more resistant to the pests found in the plants native area. We don't usually think of deer as pests, but they can be when they eat up your carefully cultivated (and often expensive) plants.

Here is a link to a previous Mr. Smarty Plants answer on this subject: Deer Resistant Plants for Great Falls, VA. This answer provided a list of deer resistant plants for Virginia.

If you would like to generate your own list, here's how:

From the Wildflower.org home page, click on the Explore Plants tab near the top of the page,

Select Recommended Species from the list on the upper right,

Select Deer Resistant under the heading Special Collections,