Deer Resistant Plants
Flathead Valley Deer Resistant Plant List
This plant list is a compilation derived from over twenty years of hands-on professional gardening and landscape design experience, trials, and testing of plant material resistance in multiple locations here in the Flathead Valley. Some of the plant material on this list does not perform well in the north valley, and is suitable for central/south valley locations only due to lack of hardiness.
Shade Tolerant Plants
Perennials
- Ajuga reptans – Bugle Weed
- Achemilla mollis – Lady’s Mantle
- Aquilegia spp. – Columbine Varieties
- Astilbe spp. – False Goat’s Beard
- Brunnera spp. – Siberian Bugloss/False Forget-me-not
- Dicentra spectabilis – Bleeding Heart
- Galium odoratum – Sweet Woodruff
- Geranium cantabrigiense ‘Biokovo’ – Biokovo Cranesbill
- Lamium maculatum – Spotted Dead-nettle
- Ligularia spp. – Leopard Plant Varieties
- Polemonium caeruleum – Jacob’s Ladder
- Polygonatum odoratum – Solomon’s Seal
- Aruncus dioicus – Goatsbeard
- Athyrium filix-femina – Lady Fern
- Dryopteris complexa – Male Fern
- Matteuccia struthiopteris – Ostrich Fern
- Athyrium nipponicum – Japanese Painted Fern
Shrubs
- Acer ginnala – Amur Maple
- Acer tataricum – Tatarian Maple
- Lonicera involucrata – Twinberry Honeysuckle
- Ribes alpinum ‘Green Mound’ – Dwarf Alpine Currant
- Sorbaria sorbifolia – Ash Leaf Spirea
- Symphoricarpos x doorenbosii ‘Candy’ – Candy Coralberry
- Juniperus communis ‘Mondap’ – Alpine Carpet Juniper
- Picea abies ‘Nidiformis’ – Bird’s Nest Spruce
Full Sun Plants
Perennials
- Achillea x ‘Moonshine’ – Moonshine Yarrow
- Allium – Flowering Onion
- Anaphalis margaritacea – Pearly Everlasting
- Aster spp. – Fall Aster Varieties
- Coreopsis verticillate ‘Moonbeam’ – Moonbeam Coreopsis
- Digitalis purpurea – Foxglove
- Eupatorium spp. – Joe-Pye Weed
- Euphorbia polychroma – Cushion Spurge
- Gaillardia spp. – Blanket Flower
- Geranium spp. – Cranesbill Varieties
- Hyacinthus spp. – Hyacinth
- Iris spp. – Iris Varieties
- Lavandula spp. – Lavender Varieties
- Cerastium tomentosum – Snow in Summer
- Monarda spp. – Bee Balm Varieties
- Paeonia spp. – Peony
- Narcissus spp. – Daffodil
- Nepeta spp. – Catmint Varieties
- Papaver orientale – Oriental Poppy
- Salvia nemorosa – Salvia Varieties
- Stachys lanata – Lamb’s Ears
- Veronica spicata – Speedwell Varieties
- Perovskia atriplicifolia – Russian Sage
- Calamagrostis spp. – Reed Grass Varieties
- Helictotrichon sempervirens – Blue Oat Grass
- Most ornamental grasses are deer resistant, but have other qualities that are undesirable
Shrubs
- Berberis thunbergii – Barberry Varieties
- Forsythia ‘Meadowlark’ – Meadowlark Forsythia
- Potentilla fruticosa – Potentilla Varieties
- Rhus spp. – Sumac Varieties
- Rosa rugosa – Rugosa Rose
- Spiraea trilobata ‘Fairy Queen’ – Fairy Queen Spirea
- Virburnum lantana ‘Mohican’ – Mohican Virburnum
- Picea pungens ‘Globosa’ – Globe Blue Spruce
- Juniperus communis ‘Mondap’ – Alpine Carpet Juniper
- Juniperus sabina – Carpet Juniper Varieties
- Picea abies ‘Nidiformis’ – Bird’s Nest Spruce