Page 46 - MNLGA Free State Winter 2023_WEB

GROWING WITH EDUCATION A Ginny Rosenkranz

Native Perennials Not Dear

to Deer: Part 1

Part 2 to be presented in the spring 2024 issue of Free State.

eer are persistent grazers, seemingly omnipresent and enjoys moist but well drained soils. The foliage of
in landscapes, and managing their impact can ‘BeeBop’, which is in the mint family, is fragrant and might be
Dbe challenging. Various repellents, such as Liquid the reason the deer tend to leave it alone. Plants grow in a
Fence, Deer Out, Deer Stopper, Deer be Gone Repellent, and clump to 1 ½ feet tall and wide with the flower spikes holding
Bobbex Concentrated Deer Repellent are available. These up the small two lipped yellow flowers that are often spotted
products, containing ingredients like spicy chili peppers, with purple. The flowers stack on top of each other in stem
garlic, and rotten eggs, require application after each ringing clusters resting on a whorl of bracts that are showy
rainfall for optimal efficacy. Motion-activated sprinklers and pink. These small but colorful flowers bloom from June
and bright lights, designed to startle deer, along with solar- into the heat of July, attracting hummingbirds, butterflies, and
powered ultrasonic animal repellents, offer alternative other pollinators, adding not only fragrance and color to the
deterrents. Some sources suggest using plants with sharp landscape but flight. These plants do spread by runners to
thorns or toxicity, though this may create an unwelcoming form large but not aggressive clumps. Due to it’s love of wet
environment for humans and pets. Instead, consider the soils, ‘BeeBop’ is an excellent plant for a rain garden.
native herbaceous perennials known for their resistance to Yucca filamentosa, or Adams Needle, and often called
deer browsing. Choose from plants with fragrant foliage and Spanish bayonet, is a form of needle palm and produces
bright blooms that thrive during the high heat and humidity dark evergreen leaves in as a stemless shrub. Plants thrive
of mid-summer until the cold of frost. Some perennials that in full sun and well-drained soils, surviving in high heat,
grow very tall require the entire summer to reach their full drought, and salt spray. The name is always a reminder to
height before blooming. Locating the plants that bloom so wear protective PPE in the form of eye protection, gloves,
late in the summer may pose a challenge, but the effort is long sleeved shirts, and long pants, because the tip of each
worthwhile.
30-inch-long sword shaped green leaf is a sharp spine. As
This list of native perennials that bloom from July to the the leaves grow, long filamentous white threads curl off the
cold frost was compiled from information provided by leaf margins. The clump of leaves can grow 2-3 feet tall and
reputable institutions such as the University of Maryland, can form small colonies from basal offsets. In mid to late
Rutgers University, Cornell University, North Carolina State June the flower stalk rises up to 5-8 feet tall from the center
Extension, University of Georgia, and some excellent garden of the clump of leaves. Fragrant, creamy white bell-shaped
centers who also received their lists from the mid-Atlantic flowers open from the top of the stalk in nodding panicles and
and northeast Universities. The key takeaway is that when will continue to bloom in the heat and humidity until late July
deer face limited edible options due to a large herd, they will and August attracting butterflies and other pollinators. ‘Bright
consume whatever is available, even some that deer don’t Edge’ is a yellow edged variegated cultivar that maintains its
usually consume. color all year long, while ‘Color Guard’ has a creamy golden
center surrounded by dark green margins. Both of these
Monarda punctata ‘BeeBop’ is a spotted beebalm which
blooms from June to July, thriving in full sun to partial shade, cultivars add color and drama into the landscape.
(continued on page 48)
46 WINTER 2023 • Free State News