The Deer-Proof Border

Honest gardeners say "deer-resistant," not deer-proof - a hungry deer in February will sample anything once. But this border stacks the odds: aromatic foliage, tough textures, and architecture deer reliably skip, built on real shrub structure so the bed holds its shape in January, not just July. Blooms April through October, then finishes in amsonia gold and beautyberry purple.

The plants

• 1×

  Dwarf Wax Myrtle Morella cerifera 'Don's Dwarf'

  The native evergreen anchor; the bayberry-scented leaves are exactly why deer keep walking.

  4.5 ft
• 3×

  Threadleaf Bluestar Amsonia hubrichtii

  Blue stars in May, a ferny cloud all summer, the best gold fall color of any perennial. Deer ignore it completely.

  3 ft
• 1×

  American Beautyberry Callicarpa americana

  Native, rarely browsed, and in October carries the most improbable purple berries in the garden.

  4.5 ft
• 2×

  Caryopteris 'Beyond Midnight' Caryopteris × clandonensis 'Beyond Midnight'

  Aromatic silver-green foliage deer skip, and true-blue flowers when the border needs them most.

  2.5 ft
• 2×

  Rattlesnake Master Eryngium yuccifolium

  Yucca-like leaves and silvery globes straight out of a botanical print. Nothing browses it; everyone asks about it.

  3.5 ft
• 3×

  Anise hyssop Agastache foeniculum

  Licorice-scented leaves deer hate and violet spikes bees can't leave alone, June to frost.

  3 ft
• 2×

  Narrowleaf mountain mint Pycnanthemum tenuifolium

  Minty foliage repels deer while the flowers host more pollinator species per square foot than almost anything native.

  2.5 ft
• 3×

  Golden Alexanders Zizia aurea

  The early yellow that feeds spring bees - and the host plant for black swallowtail caterpillars.

  2 ft
• 4×

  Prairie dropseed Sporobolus heterolepis

  A fine-textured native grass edge that deer, rabbits, and drought all pass over.

  2 ft