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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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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,

On the Deer Resistant Species page, select your state from the drop down menu under Select State and Province, then click on Narrow Your Search at the bottom of the sidebar. This will generate a list of all the deer resistant plants in the database that are native to the area you selected. You can further refine your search by specifying a general appearance and lifespan and checking boxes under light requirement, soil moisture, bloom time and bloom color.

 

 

More Deer Resistant Questions

Are birdhouse gourds deer-resistant?
January 24, 2009 - Bird house gourds: they smell nasty (to this human being) but I NEED to know if deer are as repelled as a human by the strong odor put off by the plants.
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Native grasses for New York to feed deer
January 02, 2010 - What native grasses do you recommend to encourage deer forage in feed plots?
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Use of Gaura by deer as a food source
March 05, 2006 - I live in North Central Texas and am considering planting some Gaura plants in my backyard. However, we have a large deer population in the area. Are deer generally drawn to Gaura as a food source?
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Not deer eating the Eve's necklace in San Marcos TX
June 16, 2011 - Dear Mr SP, Re: the Eve's necklace being eaten. I'm so sorry that I didn't tell you in my original question which you were kind enough to answer with the speed of lightening, but I am on the East...
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Deer eating Non-native Asiatic Jasmine in Georgetown, TX
October 22, 2015 - Is there a spray or granular material that will prevent deer from eating asiatic jasmine?
view the full question and answer

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