Are there any shade tolerant perennials that won’t be devoured by the deer?
When deer are extremely hungry, they’ll eat almost anything. However, there are a number of perennials that deer usually avoid. Native plants that usually aren’t bothered by deer include wild columbine (Aquilegia canadensis), Canadian wild ginger (Asarum canadense), turtlehead (Chelone glabra), Dutchman’s breeches (Dicentra cucullaria), ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris), Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica), mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum) and Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum spp.). Cultivated (non-native) plants that are usually ignored by deer include astilbe (Astilbe spp.), barrenwort (Epimedium spp.), sweet woodruff (Galium odoratum), spotted deadnettle (Lamium maculatum), creeping lily-turf (Liriope spicata), lungwort (Pulmonaria spp.) and Siberian squill (Scilla siberica). Is the European mountain ash a good tree for Iowa? An important consideration when selecting ornamental trees and shrubs for the home landscape is plant hardiness. In the upper Midwest, plant tolerance to
