Article: Deer Resistant Bulbs

Created on: Tuesday, September 21, 2004

If you're tired of planting bulbs and waiting all winter long for their flowers to herald the coming of spring, only to have deer nip them in the bud, then youll appreciate our list of deer resistant bulbs. Our list includes many types of bulb plants: short and tall, early and late flowering, in many forms and all your favorite colors.

• Snowdrops - the first flowers of spring! Do well in almost any situation, but look best planted in large drifts underneath deciduous trees. Excellent for lighting up dark corners in the garden. Also rodent proof!
• Hyacinth - More fragrant than any other spring bulb. Try them this year in violet and yellow. Deer and rodent proof.
• Fritillaria Letea - Crown Imperials - Mid-spring, Fritillaria sends up three-foot stems with lemon-yellow drooping flowers underneath a whorl of funky leaves. Grouped together, or sprinkled throughout a perennial bed, Fritillaria creates a wild show. In addition to being deer resistant, they are also said to repel rodents.
• Scilla campanulata - Bell-shaped flowers on 20-inch stems available in a mix of blue, pink, white. Self-sows freely, as well as makes abundant off-sets. A clump planted this fall will spread nicely in moist, rich soil. Great for planting under deciduous trees.
• Allium "Globemaster" - Perfect 10-inch orbs of densely packed purple flowers rising on three-foot stems in late spring. Perennial with long blooming period. Great for cutting.
• Muscari - Grape Hyacinth - Familiar blue form. Very easy to grow. Spreads by both seed and off-sets.
• Narcissus/Daffodils - Top sized bulbs available this year in a wide range of varieties with blooming periods from early to mid spring. Colors range from sunny yellows to snow whites. Classic yellow trumpets to fluffy double forms. Try our latest white variety, "Misty Glen," pure white with a green eye.

If deer, rabbits and squirrels eat all your tulips and crocus, keep plantings of these bulbs in high traffic areas and containers to discourage unwanted visitors. Add deer repellent Repellex® tablets to the soil when planting to help give season-long protection. Replant the tablets each spring, as soon as the bulbs foliage starts to emerge.
Bulbs of all your spring favorites will be available at Pine Tree Nursery in early September. Stop in and check out these "not tonight, deer" beauties.