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"The Best Deer-Resistant Perennials and Shrubs" Gardening is a wonderful, rewarding pastime. Cultivating a garden only to have it eaten to the ground by a hungry deer or two, however, is not as wonderful. The damage grazing deer can do to a garden can be quite substantial and costly. Fortunately, there are many different perennials and shrubs that are deer-resistant. These perennials and shrubs are not appetizing to the grazing deer and they leave them alone in the garden. There are deer-resistant perennials and shrubs for all different seasons. Click on a plant name to order it from Pernell Gerver's Online Store. Christmas rose and Lenten rose are two of the earliest-blooming, deer-resistant perennials. Christmas rose bears two-inch white flowers tinged pink from late winter to spring. In my garden it blooms as early as Valentine's Day! It has attractive, evergreen foliage. Lenten rose blooms a bit later, in late winter and early spring. It bears large, bell-shaped flowers that are very long blooming. In my garden, I've had them in bloom from mid March to early July. It has evergreen foliage and forms a clump a couple of feet across. Columbine is a spring-blooming perennial that is deer resistant. There are many different varieties of columbine with a range of colorful flowers. Columbine 'Cameo Blue-White' is a dwarf form of columbine that only grows six inches tall. Large flowers stand atop a low mound of foliage. The flowers have blue outer petals surrounding white inner petals. It blooms in mid to late May and is in bloom for weeks. Baptisia is a late-spring-to-early-summer-blooming perennial that bears upright flowers on tall stems. Baptisia 'Starlite Prairieblues' is a new variety that has bicolored, pea-like, flowers of periwinkle blue and creamy yellow. The two-foot-tall flower spikes stand atop a three-foot-tall clump of foliage. It blooms in late May and early June. Ligularia 'The Rocket' is a summer-blooming perennial that is also deer-resistant and it's a perennial for the darkest corner of the garden. This photo is of it in the darkest, shadiest part of my garden! Its heart-shaped foliage is deeply cut along the edges. Five-foot-tall spikes of yellow flowers appear in midsummer. It's an amazing plant that grows where other plants won't. The fall garden wouldn't be complete without chrysanthemums (now correctly called dendranthema) and fortunately, they are deer-resistant perennials. One of the last perennials to bloom in my garden is Dendranthema 'Sheffield.' Truly a "hardy mum," this variety of chrysanthemum is named for Sheffield, MA where it was rediscovered some years ago. It bears single, pale-pink, daisy-like flowers atop three-foot-tall stems in late autumn. Ornamental grasses of all different types are deer-resistant perennials. Deer don't like the rustling sound the foliage makes and they stay away. There are many different types of ornamental grasses, from low-growing, clump-forming types that stay small, to large, upright ones that can reach six feet high or more. They are wonderful perennials that really come into their own in fall and they are great for providing winter interest. Deer are notorious for grazing on shrubs, especially evergreens. One of the best deer-resistant shrubs is purple beautyberry. It's truly a four-season shrub. Small lilac flowers in summer become clusters of small, shiny violet berries arranged in clusters up and down each stem in early autumn. The berries remain attractive on the shrub well into winter. Its fall foliage is reddish-pink. Whenever anyone seees this plant in my garden they always admire the bright-purple, gem-like berries and ask me "What is that plant?"

by Pernell Gerver

"African Gardenia Easier to Grow" Q. As a reader of your column on your web site, I noted your willingness to answer questions from your readers. I need your help. I'd hate to lose this plant. Our son gave me a gardenia for my birthday last September. It was blooming when I received it in its six-inch pot and the leaves were a deep, glossy green. There were dozens of buds on so small a plant. I was delighted. The flowers became yellow and after a few weeks, the buds turned brown and dropped. The flower buds didn't develop after a certain size. I resigned myself into having a lovely, healthy green plant. Realizing that the gardenia was pot bound, I purchased potting soil and an unglazed ceramic pot. Since repotting, I've noticed that leaves are yellowing from the bottom of the plant up. Please help. Thank you. A. I get a lot of questions about problems with gardenias. Common complaints include flower buds falling off, no flowering, leaves yellowing, leaves shriveling, or the entire plant dying. Many a gardenia has died on me over the years despite my careful attention to its special needs. The problem is the common gardenia is a fussy plant and it is not suited to the growing conditions found in the average home. I love the fragrance of gardenia, but I don't grow the common gardenia anymore because of all its problems. Instead, I grow an easy-to-grow, lesser-known relative of the common gardenia called African gardenia. I like it so much I just started more so I can have one in every room to enjoy its fragrance throughout my home. It is one of my favorite plants. African gardenia has the same wonderful gardenia fragrance, but on a dependable plant that is not fussy. It blooms reliably in the home blooming almost continuously all year long with no extra effort. It bears small, star-shaped flowers that are pink in bud and open creamy white. The flowers are carried in clusters all up and down its stems and even the smallest stem will have a few flowers on it. There are dozens and dozens of flowers in bloom at any one time. The fragrance easily carries on the breeze, perfuming a room. It's a shrubby plant that looks similar to gardenia, but on a smaller scale. It has short, slender leaves that are carried on woody stems. It tends to grow rather flat and rarely grows larger than a couple of feet high and wide, making it a good choice for even a small windowsill garden. Not a fussy plant, African gardenia can be grown just about anywhere in the home - in a sunny or shady window, in cool or warm temperatures, and in low or high humidity. Click here to read more about African gardenia and order it from Pernell Gerver's Online Store. Click here to submit gardening questions for Pernell Gerver's online Q & A column. Click here to read previous online columns in the archives.

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