Dear Miss Floribunda,

I’ll bet it makes you cringe to receive yet another complaint about deer in the garden. This time, I am going to beg you not to even mention any of the solutions that I don’t have the time, the expertise or a strong enough stomach to want to take on: fences made of fishing tackle, coyote urine, rotten eggs, tabasco sauce, hairbrush fuzz, soap slabs, flashing strobe lights, etc., etc., etc.  

I don’t want to get a dog to bark at the deer. It would also bark at the squirrels and rabbits that also vandalize my garden. This could go on day and night! 

However, recently I got an offer from a plant company for supposedly deer-proof dahlias and astilbe. Do deer leave them alone, and are they easy to grow? What easy-to-grow flowers could I plant and be reasonably sure I wouldn’t be just providing a salad bar for Bambi, Thumper and friends? 

Resisting Deer Pressure on Decatur Street

Dear Resisting Deer Pressure, 

I think it’s very sensible to limit your plantings to what deer don’t relish. Deer, rabbits and squirrels are averse to plants with strong odors and complex textures — even those pleasing to us. For example, mint and other strong herbal smells repel them without disgusting us the way coyote urine and rotten eggs would. And they dislike the fuzzy lamb’s ear we find caressable. 

The dahlias offered to you for sale have a peppery smell and bitter taste that deer do not like. Astilbe also has a bitter taste, and deer prefer plants with juicy stalks and leaves to astilbe’s dry feathery foliage and rough fibrous stalks. 

You can find lists of other plants that deer don’t like, but keep in mind that during times of drought they will eat anything — with the possible exceptions of alliums and other plants with garlic odor, or yucca and other razor-leaved plants. Deer are selective browsers, rather than omnivorous grazers, and look for the most succulent and nutritious plants, usually leaving a portion of a shrub alive to continue to produce future treats for them. In spring, however, they will do a little grazing on fertilized lawns and won’t spare your tulips. 

In summer, deer prefer young shoots, berries, buds and leaves; in fall, they like high-fat acorns; and in winter, they forage from hardwood trees. 

Once you have determined that a plant is not likely to attract deer, you still have to make sure that it will thrive in your garden’s microclimate. Astilbe, for example, likes shade, rich soil and consistent moisture. Although you can find heat-resistant varieties, astilbe will finish blooming by the dog days of summer. Other shade-loving plants not high on a deer’s list of preferences are ferns and bleeding hearts — but hostas they find irresistible. 

Dahlias, on the other hand, need full sun, heat and well-drained soil. They begin blooming in mid-summer at about the time astilbe finishes blooming, and go on till late fall frosts. 

I strongly recommend the effectively pungent geraniums, which bloom all summer in full sun, and can be dug up, winter over in boxes, and revive when replanted in late spring. 

Chives and many alliums will bloom anywhere and are beautiful, but they have a fairly brief blooming season. Russian sage, rosemary, lavender, sage and other herbs like full sun and are not fussy. Mint is a good ground-covering deer repellent — but it is quite invasive. Be sure you like it very, very much! 

In general, those I just mentioned are the main summer perennials that repel deer, but there are a number of annuals they dislike: marigolds and nasturtiums because of their pungent odor and lantanas because of their texture. Dianthus are disliked by deer, but rabbits seem not to mind their scent and taste. 

You will find that certain spring bulbs, such as daffodils, fritillaria and hyacinths, will be shunned by deer, and are large enough to be left alone by squirrels. Only chicken wire will keep squirrels from stealing any bulb the size of an acorn, however. 

Hellebores, foxgloves, lilies-of-the-valley, peonies and other staples of the spring garden are toxic to would-be vandals. Fortunately for your fall garden, the odors of chrysanthemums and asters displease deer, but rabbits will nibble aster buds. 

Boxwood, most conifers, and sharp-leaved hollies are fairly safe during winter, unless it is a  very long and bitter one. 

Another factor to consider is overpopulation, which will make deer desperate. In fact, that and habitat loss are among the reasons your garden has been invaded. I asked my friend at the University of Maryland Extension service, Dr. R.O. Buck, if we might set up feeding stations in winter for deer the way we do for birds. He advised against it because we cannot provide the specialized nutrition deer need, and feeding them such things as corn, bread or fruit could actually kill them. He also reminded me that I wrote a column just a few months ago warning about Lyme disease, which is transmitted by deer ticks. It is best for all concerned not to attract them.  

To discuss plant choices for the coming season, please come to the next meeting of the Hyattsville Horticultural Society on Saturday, May 16, at the Hyattsville Municipal Center, 4310 Gallatin Street, starting at 10 a.m.