If you live in New Jersey, you know how frustrating it can be when deer munch through your carefully planted garden overnight.
These graceful animals might look beautiful, but they can destroy your flower beds in minutes. Luckily, there are plenty of gorgeous flowers that deer tend to avoid, letting you enjoy a colorful garden without the constant worry of losing your plants to hungry visitors.
1. Lavender
Lavender’s strong scent keeps deer away while attracting bees and butterflies to your New Jersey yard. This Mediterranean herb thrives in well-drained soil and full sun, making it perfect for sunny spots.
Once established, lavender needs little water and can handle our hot summers beautifully. The silvery-green foliage looks attractive even when the plant isn’t blooming.
You can harvest the fragrant stems for sachets or cooking, giving you extra value from this hardworking plant.
2. Black-Eyed Susan
Native to our region, Black-Eyed Susans bring cheerful golden blooms from summer through fall. Deer rarely bother these tough perennials, which explains why you’ll spot them thriving along New Jersey roadsides and in natural areas.
They tolerate various soil types and handle drought once their roots are established. These flowers self-seed easily, creating bigger displays each year without extra effort from you.
Goldfinches love the seed heads in winter, adding wildlife interest to your garden.
3. Russian Sage
With its cloudy purple-blue flowers and aromatic leaves, Russian Sage creates a dreamy effect in late summer gardens.
Deer steer clear of this plant thanks to its strong fragrance, making it reliable for New Jersey landscapes where deer pressure is heavy. This tall perennial reaches three to four feet and loves hot, dry conditions.
It pairs beautifully with ornamental grasses and other drought-tolerant plants. Butterflies visit the blooms constantly throughout August and September when many other flowers have finished.
4. Coneflower
Coneflowers have become garden favorites across New Jersey because they’re nearly indestructible and deer usually ignore them.
Available in colors from white to deep purple and even orange, these natives bloom for months when deadheaded regularly. They handle clay soil, drought, and humidity without complaint.
Birds adore the seed heads in fall and winter, providing entertainment when you look out your window. Plant them in groups of three or more for the best visual impact in your beds.
5. Salvia
Hummingbirds can’t resist salvia’s tubular flowers, but deer certainly can thanks to the aromatic foliage. New Jersey gardeners appreciate how this perennial keeps blooming from late spring until frost if you trim off spent flowers.
Many varieties exist, from compact types perfect for container gardens to tall ones that create dramatic vertical interest.
They prefer well-drained soil and sunny locations but aren’t overly fussy. The flower spikes add wonderful texture to bouquets and arrangements throughout the growing season.
6. Yarrow
Yarrow’s flat flower clusters come in shades of yellow, pink, red, and white, offering plenty of options for your color scheme. Deer avoid this tough perennial because of its pungent leaves, which actually smell pleasant to most people.
It thrives in poor soil and full sun, making it ideal for difficult spots in New Jersey yards where other plants struggle.
The ferny foliage stays attractive all season long. Butterflies gather on the blooms, and the flowers dry beautifully for crafts and arrangements.
7. Catmint
Despite its name, catmint is much more refined than catnip and creates beautiful billowing mounds covered in purple-blue flowers. New Jersey gardeners love how deer completely ignore this plant while bees visit it constantly throughout summer.
It works wonderfully as an edging plant along pathways or in front of taller perennials. Cut it back after the first bloom flush, and it’ll reward you with another round of flowers.
The gray-green leaves stay nice-looking even when blooms fade between cycles.
8. Daffodils
Nothing announces spring in New Jersey quite like daffodils popping up through the last bits of snow. Deer won’t touch these cheerful bulbs because all parts of the plant are toxic to them, making daffodils one of the most reliable early-season flowers you can plant.
They multiply over the years, creating bigger displays without any effort from you. Plant them in fall for spring blooms, choosing early, mid, and late varieties for extended color.
The foliage must stay intact after blooming to feed next year’s flowers.
9. Allium
These dramatic bulbs send up perfectly round flower heads on tall stems, creating an architectural element that deer completely avoid.
The onion scent in the leaves repels browsing animals, though you won’t notice it unless you brush against or crush the foliage. New Jersey gardeners plant alliums in fall alongside tulips, but unlike tulips, deer leave alliums alone.
They bloom in late spring and early summer, bridging the gap between spring bulbs and summer perennials. The dried seed heads look interesting well into summer.
10. Foxglove
Foxglove’s tall spires of tubular flowers add a cottage garden charm that deer rarely disturb because the plants contain compounds they instinctively avoid.
These biennials or short-lived perennials prefer partial shade and moist soil, making them perfect for shadier spots in New Jersey yards. They self-seed reliably, ensuring new plants appear each year without replanting.
The flowers attract hummingbirds and bumblebees throughout late spring and early summer. Plant them toward the back of beds where their height creates dramatic vertical interest.
11. Lamb’s Ear
Kids love touching the impossibly soft, fuzzy leaves of lamb’s ear, but deer find the texture unappealing and leave it alone.
This spreading perennial works beautifully as a ground cover or edging plant throughout New Jersey, with its silvery foliage brightening shaded areas. Small purple flowers appear on tall spikes in summer, though many gardeners grow it primarily for the foliage.
It tolerates drought once established and spreads to fill in bare spots. The leaves stay attractive from spring through fall in our climate.