10 Deer-Resistant Shade Plants to Have in Your Garden

Seeing wild deer near your home is a privilege, but if they start preying on your precious flowers, they can go from a blessing to a nuisance. If your garden doesn’t get much sunlight, you should choose shade-tolerant, deer-resistant plants so you can see Bambi without worrying about them wreaking havoc in your yard.

It should be noted that these ruminants are opportunistic herbivores. This means that no plant is truly deer resistant. However, some species are much more deer resistant than others.

Luckily, if your yard isn’t the lightest, there are plenty of deer-resistant plants and bulbs to choose from. We’ve selected 18 popular shade-loving species that are rarely damaged by deer or rarely seriously damaged by deer for planting in your yard.

01 Barrenwort

Epimedium species are drought-tolerant, clump-forming plants that look great in any shady garden. Their bright, nodding small flowers provide a burst of color in early spring, and the foliage has vibrant red spots. Barrenwort is an ideal low-maintenance, deer-resistant perennial groundcover for understory trees in your yard.

02 Bleeding Heart

These shade-loving forest trees grow quickly and have a unique appearance. The bleeding heart plant has heart-shaped flowers that hang from arching stems. Each flower has a single protruding white petal, hence their common name. These plants thrive in evenly moist soil, promoting a flowering period that lasts several weeks in the spring.

03 Japanese Painted Fern

Most ferns prefer shade and are deer resistant, but the Japanese painted fern stands out from the crowd. This slow-growing species has unique silver-green, dome-shaped leaves with deep purple veins. This species is easy to grow and tolerates deep shade. Just make sure you choose a location with good drainage.

04 lungwort

Deer are not fans of the herbaceous perennial lungwort. Although the trumpet flowers fade quickly, they reappear in early spring, adding much-needed color to your landscape. Additionally, the variegated, fuzzy foliage continues to provide interest throughout the summer and fall.

These plants don’t like to compete with trees for moisture, so they are best placed in shady areas under taller perennials or along the edges of walls or tall fences.

05 Wild Ginger

Unlike culinary ginger (Zingiber officinale), eating wild ginger is not recommended. Regardless, this plant is an excellent deer repellent in any shady garden. The glossy green leaves provide a dense ground cover with perfect texture. Just watch out for slugs and snails as they are attracted to this species.

06 Pig Squeak

You’d be forgiven for not giving orange bergenia flowers a chance when you hear their common name. But pig’s squeal is an attractive spring-blooming plant that is deer-resistant. Plus, their attractive foliage turns deep brown in the fall and lasts all winter, bringing year-round interest to your shade garden. These hardy, clump-forming plants require only moist, nutrient-rich soil to thrive.

07 Siberian Bugloss

Siberian bugloss has tiny, bright, long-lasting blue flowers that appear in the spring and last for up to four weeks. The flowers of this slow-growing groundcover resemble deer forget-me-nots, but Siberian beetles need a shady, not sunny, spot in your yard.

08 Rue Anemone

This tender perennial is ideal for a shady woodland garden. If you can provide the moist, low-light conditions that these slow-growing plants love, you’ll see plenty of spring flowers that deer won’t munch on.

09 Astilbe

Astilbes are tall, slow-growing, low-maintenance perennials ideal for adding to the back of variegated shade borders. The delicate pastel colors of the long-lasting blooms last all spring and summer, and the lacy foliage adds contrasting textural interest to your landscape.

10 Bog Onion

Swamp onion, also known as Pulpit Jack, is a slow-growing perennial with a unique, almost tropical appearance. A cylindrical machine with a hood wraps around a spadix covered with small flowers. It blooms from mid-spring for only a few weeks, but the interesting inflorescences remain attractive even in summer. This plant is easy to grow in moist soil.