Landscapes filled with gorgeous plants and flowers can boost your curb appeal and attract friendly wildlife, but they can also attract deer looking for some food and destroy your well-designed yard. Don't fret! There are deer-resistant plants that you can add to your landscape in Texas to keep it beautiful while fending off deer. Vinca, Mexican bush sage, raspberry salvia, lemon-lime Nandina, society garlic, Mexican butterfly weed, Artemisia, and Zexmenia are excellent deer-resistant plants that will take the beauty of your landscape to the next level. From eye-catching blooms to charming small flowers, these plants will give you a stunning display!

1. Vinca

The colorful blooms of vinca will be a fantastic addition to your landscape. Their emerald green foliage provides a beautiful background for the striking flowers that come in various colors, like pink, red, white, or purple. What's best about this plant is that it has a sweet smell that elevates the ambiance of your landscape but keeps deer away because they don't like fragrant plants! Because they can help make your landscape more deer-resistant, you'll want to set them up for success. Vinca flowers love full sun and need to be planted in soil with good drainage.

2. Mexican Bush Sage

Mexican bush sage is a beautiful perennial shrub that blooms in late summer and early fall. It has soft, velvety gray-green leaves that serve as the perfect background for its giant purple blooms. In maturity, Mexican bush sage plants can grow up to 3 feet tall in just one growing season. This plant is also tolerant of heavy pruning when it is actively growing! It loves to grow under full sun and will thrive when planted in moist soil that drains well. Mexican bush sage is famous for its arching spikes that deer tend to stay away from. This makes it a beautiful addition to your landscape for some pop of color while fending off invasive deer.

3. Raspberry Salvia

The raspberry salvia is a charming plant to add to your landscape. It boasts raspberry-red flowers that stand out beautifully above its arching stems and against its mellow-colored green foliage. It is a favorite among property owners because its flowers come in several colors that they can choose from, including lavender, red, pink, white, and yellow. This plant emits a pungent odor to deer, which is why they make sure to keep their business out of landscapes with raspberry salvia. Fortunately, this odor is an aroma to humans!

For your salvia plant to flourish, make sure you plant it in a sunny spot and well-drained soil. Most species tolerate drought fairly well, but you'll want to ensure your salvia still receives enough water. They also don't like crowded spaces, so make sure your salvia is planted with enough space to allow good airflow.

4. Lemon-Lime Nandina

The lemon-line Nandina is a cultivar of heavenly bamboo, an evergreen shrub known for leaves that resemble bamboo. This specific cultivar is a captivating plant that can brighten up your landscape with its lime-green leaves. It is toxic to deer, which is why it is a great addition if you want to achieve a deer-resistant landscape. One of the great things about this plant is that it is compact and doesn't become unruly easily. It's also a low-maintenance plant; place your lemon-lime Nandina in a sunny area in healthy soil and it's good to go!

5. Society Garlic

Society garlic is a lovely perennial plant that features star-shaped purple flowers and grows in clumps on your landscape. It blooms in the spring and summer, creating a beautiful display of colors at the start of the growing season. Society garlic has a mild to strong odor, which makes it unappealing to deer. This plant has to be planted in full sun to produce beautiful flowers and should receive regular water throughout its growing season. When dormant, you can reduce watering.

Society garlic germinates quickly, so it's a nice choice if you want to see color in your landscape right away!

6. Mexican Butterfly Weed

Don't let its name fool you; the Mexican butterfly weed is a strikingly beautiful plant with eye-catching red and orange blooms. This flower is highly durable, as it can tolerate a lot of moisture and endure drought conditions, allowing it to grow well year-round. It has a sweet fragrance that attracts friendly pollinators like butterflies, bees, and even hummingbirds. Because of its smell, deer tend to stay away from Mexican butterfly weed plants. While this plant grows well in full sun, it also performs well in partially shaded areas.

7. Artemisia

Artemisia is a unique plant that will stand out in your landscape with its charming seafoam green color. The soft, gentle texture of this plant will also add interesting visuals to your landscape. It emits a strong smell that keeps deer from coming near it, so you don't have to worry about these animals destroying your landscape when it features Artemisia. The Artemisia plant works well as a mid-layer element in your yard, providing a pleasing background for your other landscape plants. For this plant to thrive, it needs to receive full sun and have good ventilation to prevent diseases.

8. Zexmenia

Another deer-resistant plant that you can add to your landscape is Zexmenia. This low-growing plant has stems covered in stiff and rough hair that deer don't like. Because it grows close to the ground, this plant is a great way to fill the space in your landscape. It has daisy-like flowers in showy colors like yellow and orange that can make your landscape look more vibrant and playful! Zexmenia plants are easy to grow. It can adapt to various soil conditions and grow well, whether placed under full or partial sun. It is also highly versatile, as it can tolerate cold and dry environments and still look beautiful!

Call us today to sign up for our landscape installation service!

Do you want to create a beautiful, deer-resistant landscape? If so, we are here to help! Our team at Purple Care offers a landscape installation service to commercial and residential properties, as well as HOAs, in Fort Worth, Arlington, Weatherford, and surrounding areas in Texas. We install new landscape beds and handle renovations if you want to revamp your existing ones. We can also include the deer-resistant plants listed above in your landscape, as well as other plants like Knock Out roses and hibiscus! Give us a call today at (817) 880-6052 to sign up for our landscape installation service!