Deer proof is a designation that I usually find laughable. I suspect that given the chance, deer would dine on blue tarps and roof shingles. If these beasts had thumbs, my refrigerator door would have a lock on it. But there is one plant, one flower in the field that is unequivocally ignored by this antlered entourage: the daffodil.
The Daffodil is a spring-blooming bulb that’s planted in the fall. Ice Follies is the variety shown above, and a happy harbinger of the longer days and short-sleeve weather to come.
What’s great about daffodils:
- Deer-proof foliage and flowers
- Easy to grow: plant and ignore
- Naturalizers: the bulbs spread and multiply each season
- long-lasting cut flowers
- Some are fragrant
- Bulbs are relatively inexpensive and available each fall
- Great varieties in color, form and blossom type
Now if you’re wondering if spring’s other big bloomer, the tulip is deer proof, I’d have to say no; the T in tulip is for Tasty.
Tulips in bud are here today,
So if the possibility of such garden heartbreak lurks in your neck of the woods, plant daffodils instead and laugh in the direction of those doe-eyed denizens.
What I was blogging about one year ago: Boz and Gracie Are Real Cards, Alright
9 responses so far ↓
1 noble pig // Mar 8, 2010 at 11:54 pm
yes, and that is why we covered in Daffs…they just pass them by…
2 renae // Mar 9, 2010 at 5:13 pm
DEER! I once broke my back planting bags of bulbs and saw three flowers and a lot of mowed down stems. I wish I knew about daffodils when I had the property to plant flowers.
3 Tom // Mar 9, 2010 at 6:10 pm
Which reminds me Renae, when growing daffodils, don’t remove any leaves until they have turned brown and died back. After flowering, the daffodil uses its leaves to feed the bulb for next year’s blooms.
4 brion // Mar 10, 2010 at 3:36 pm
Tom – will these grow in texas?
5 Tom // Mar 10, 2010 at 4:05 pm
Brion I think you’re in luck. Daffodils need a chill period, which Dallas has and they go dormant in the heat of your hot summers.
Here are some links that might be helpful:
Texas Daffodil Society with a link to top bulbs: http://www.texasdaffodilsociety.org/
and check out “Daffodils are great bulbs that will do well in Dallas gardens.” from http://www.nhg.com/BulbTips.htm. Now hopefully feral pigs and cattle find them just as unsavory as deer do.
6 Sophie // Mar 11, 2010 at 8:48 am
I also love daffodils!! they are so beautiful & sunny!
7 brion // Mar 11, 2010 at 7:54 pm
that sir is an excellent question. though i worry more about the effects of little boys. thanks for the link. btw i’m ordering more prairie grass and wild flower seeds no evidence of results from the fall planting.
8 Eileen @ Passions to Pastry // Mar 12, 2010 at 2:04 pm
Fortunately, deer are not a problem for us… yet, altho’ we have seen them as close as 5 blocks away. What I need is a suggestion on what to do to keep rabbits from eating EVERYTHING in our yard! I suppose they’d love daffodils.
9 Daffodils: How to Encourage Next Year’s Blooms // Apr 17, 2010 at 6:35 pm
[...] late winter, drifts of daffodils punctuate my property like streams of sunshine. They are a welcomed sight and a needed reminder [...]
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