Native Gardening

[KC Crook]

If you dive into the world of native plants, you will find a lot of interesting and showy plants in your area. The US is filled with them, no matter the zone you're in.

A close relative to the Wild Columbine I posted is native to your area. Crimson Columbine (Aquilegia formosa).
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You also have Showy Milkweed (Asclepias speciosa), which is highly popular due to it's interesting flower shape and color.
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Blue-eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium bellum) is also a great native in your area, I grow a similar specie and it's one of my favorites.
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Azure Penstemon (Penstemon azureus) and Small Penstemon (Penstemon parvulus) are natives that I wish I had in my own area. They're too damn cool.
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(All photos above are from various online sources)

That's what I found after a quick search, but I'm sure there's many more, Of course, plants that aren't native to your area, but are US natives, like Long-headed Coneflower and Orange Milkweed would likely do just fine in your area, too.
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Those are all beautiful, but how many are deer resistant...and I dont mean just a munch and go...more like...yuck...I dont want to eat that ever. Because our deer here are very bad. Our neighborhood is set up deer friendly. Thruways for them, ect. All our fencing is controlled for their benefit. We are notorious in the area for our deer. We go to the local nursery and people say, "Oh, for Shastina? I dont know." Flowering plants like shasta daisy, foxglove, iris, and daffadill are mostly u molested. Not much else of any color. I have butterfly bushes that get just stripped. Beebalm, coneflower, marigolds...eaten away. Young lavender even has been shaved off. Only after the lavender matures is it safe. Its sooo crazy!

 

[KC Crook]

passion flowers are very invasive here .I made the mistake of planting one and have had a hard time controlling it .I love your rocks KC .

Thanks sissyabout the rocks. There were alot just pell mell about the property so Ive collected them for a shade rock garden thats relatively deer resistant. Its still a work in progress, lol

 

[Stephen T.]

Back in the day... We used to hang little satchels of blood meal on our plants to keep the deer from becoming drug addicts. It usually worked, but bears sometimes caused problems with that!

 

[KC Crook]

Back in the day... We used to hang little satchels of blood meal on our plants to keep the deer from becoming drug addicts. It usually worked, but bears sometimes caused problems with that!

Haha! Umm...deer vs bear!

 

[Tula]

I've recently discovered The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens, has a wealth of information about plants from our area. We have an area of deep shade , so purchased some Christmas Ferns, hoping they take off

Our area has been devastated by the emerald ash borer, very sad. On Mother's Day, we planted a North Red Oak tree, that does well in our area

 

[KC Crook]

I've recently discovered The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens, has a wealth of information about plants from our area. We have an area of deep shade , so purchased some Christmas Ferns, hoping they take off

Our area has been devastated by the emerald ash borer, very sad. On Mother's Day, we planted a North Red Oak tree, that does well in our area

I love deep shade plants. For close to 25 years, those have been my only options on most properties Ive lived on. Most do require moisture tho. The dry ones are more difficult to pin down. If you need any help with deepshade plants, let me know.

 

[KC Crook]

KC,

Pitcher plants are a good possibility in your area. They grow native out on the west side of the coast range about 15 miles inland from Port Orford, Oregon. There are lots of them up near the headwaters of the Elk River around 1000 foot elevation. The photo is a rather spectacular spot we discovered. Eve actually spotted it back from the road about 300 feet, just out of the Copper Salmon Wilderness area. It is a mineral spring that forms flowstone, then flows into the Elk River up where it's tiny. Note the pitcher plants growing next to it!

This area has nitrogen poor soils (ultramafic), so carnivorous plants do well here. The pitcher plant, Darlingtonia Californica captures insects in the tall hooded tube which has downward pointing hairs. At the base are digestive liquids that allow the Pitcher plant to absorb the nitrogen for insects.

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They impress me as tropical, wet, and somewhat shady. I confess I havent looked much into them.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

I have butterfly bushes that get just stripped.

That's good, because they're invasive here in the US.

Milkweeds are typically resistant to mammals due to the poison. As for the rest, I wouldn't know. The plants native to California are unfamiliar to me. We have deer here, too. I live next to a wooded park. They rarely wander into the yard but have never caused an issue. Rabbits are the big pest here.

 

[KC Crook]

That's good, because they're invasive here in the US.

Milkweeds are typically resistant to mammals due to the poison. As for the rest, I wouldn't know. The plants native to California are unfamiliar to me. We have deer here, too. I live next to a wooded park. They rarely wander into the yard but have never caused an issue. Rabbits are the big pest here.

We have rabbits, but they are shy. As for butterfly bushes, they are not an issue here. Some here hate Quaking Aspen, they are invasive...or my personal hatred, Siberian Elm. I suppose its about where you are.

 

[KC Crook]

Milkweed? Isnt that a monarch butterfly favorite? I just assumed because its not prolific here, the deer eat it...but if it can be grown, Im more then happy to try.

 

[addy1]

Back in the day... We used to hang little satchels of blood meal on our plants to keep the deer from becoming drug addicts. It usually worked, but bears sometimes caused problems with that!

hang Irish spring, the soap bar, they don't like it.

 

[Stephen T.]

Narrow Leaf Milkweed, Asclepias fascicularis, is native to our area, north of Klamath Falls and less than 100 miles from Weed. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is giving out packets of seeds that are donated by the Southern Oregon Monarch Advocates. We just started some of them.

 

[KC Crook]

hang Irish spring, the soap bar, they don't like it.

Tried it, the deer dont care here, lol. Over the 30 or so years our neighborhood has been in existance, the deer have learned all the tricks and pass it on to their young. I have tried human hair, dog hair, sprays, fishing line, dog urine, just about anything short of electric fence and it doesnt matter. Now its just a pure ugly deer fence. Oh well, the price we pay for living in our paradise. The biggest deterrent for not having deer is not feeding them.

 

[addy1]

i ended up putting that black deer fencing up. Not real tall, but our deer are usually lazy, 5 feet tall stops them. They walk down the fence line until they can walk through the gate. I had electric fence, but that was a pita, snow tall grass wires breaking, so gave up on it. This is just for my bee yards. The deer love the flowers the bees love. I try to save a few for the bees, lol

 

[KC Crook]

i ended up putting that black deer fencing up. Not real tall, but our deer are usually lazy, 5 feet tall stops them. They walk down the fence line until they can walk through the gate. I had electric fence, but that was a pita, snow tall grass wires breaking, so gave up on it. This is just for my bee yards. The deer love the flowers the bees love. I try to save a few for the bees, lol

I m considering spray painting my ugly deer fence to blend it into the yard. Same here for the deer, 5 ft works...IF they have no safe landing. In a large yard with a clear landing on the other side, they would jump it for morsels. I have filled my yard with rocks, logs, and paths that confuse and scare them. Alot of people do that here since there is an HOA limit on fencing, but none on width, so breaking up their landing with rocks, logs, ect..seems to work fairly well.