Native Plants

Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

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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Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

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Please forgive us, but Mr. Smarty Plants has been overwhelmed by a flood of mail and must take a break for awhile to catch up. We hope to be accepting new questions again soon. Thank you!

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Friday - April 19, 2013

From: Ione, WA
Region: Northeast
Topic: Pests, Deer Resistant
Title: Plants that animals won't eat from Ione WA
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

In Ione Washington and need to know what types of plants and flowers I can plant that animals in that area wont eat?

ANSWER:

There are very few plants that some animals, like goats, will not eat, and very many plants that some animals, like deer, will eat. Animals in the wild and, to some extent, pets in the neighborhood will snack on whatever appeals to them. The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, home of Mr. Smarty Plants, recommends plants native not only to North America but to the area in which those plants grow naturally; in your case, Pend Orielle County, Washington. However, our Native Plant Database does not include information on each plant as to what animals eat it. We do have a Deer-Resistant Plant List, which we will sort for you on the state of Washington. You can follow each plant link to the webpage on that list; the measure of deer resistance is down the page under Benefits, sometimes Highly Resistant, sometimes Minimal Resistance.

Online we found several other lists of plants animals don't eat; remember that these are not necessarily native, so our Native Plant Database would have no information on them.

Plants the Varmints Won't Eat (Usually)

Garden Plants That Animals Will Not Eat