Deer and rabbits won’t eat "animal proof" beautiful bushes with showy flowers. These adorable critters unfortunately can destroy your landscape by munching on foliage and clipping twigs on bushes. While rabbits usually gnaw bark and eat greenery on the lower parts of bushes, deer typically browse on branches at least 2 feet off the ground. One telltale sign of deer and rabbits are their small, pellet-like droppings.
Smoketree spurge (Euphorbia cotinifolia) and bitter cassava are broadleaf evergreens known for displaying attractive foliage and don’t tolerate frost. Smoketree spurge has broad-elliptic burgundy-red leaves on purple stems and bears white flowers in June. It requires full sun and grows 10 to 15 feet tall in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 10 to 11. Bitter cassava has bright green foliage with wide streaks of creamy-yellow and bears greenish-white flowers seasonally. It grows 6 to 10 feet tall in USDA zones 10 through 12, but is considered invasive in some areas. Both bushes resist rabbits and deer.
Tolerates Dry Soil and Drought
Wall germander (Teucrium chamaedrys) and staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina) tolerate dry soil and drought. Wall germander is a small shrub known for its attractive, shiny dark-green, fragrant foliage and grows 12 to 15 inches tall. This evergreen begets pink to purple tubular blooms in May and grows in USDA zones 5 through 9. The leaves of staghorn sumac turn shades of red, orange and yellow in the fall and the female’s greenish-yellow flowers yield showy clusters of small, hairy, bright-red fruit. It grows 15 to 25 feet tall in USDA zones 3 through 8. Both bushes resist rabbits and deer, but staghorn sumac attracts birds.
No Pruning and Attracts Butterflies
Tree peony (Paeonia suffruticosa) and bottlebrush buckeye require no pruning and their flowers attract butterflies. Tree peony puts out impressively large, pink to white flowers 6 to 8 inches across in April to May and grows 3 to 5 feet tall. Its foliage maintains its lush beauty throughout the growing season. Bottlebrush buckeye is one of the best shrubs for partial to full shade and the blossoming of its 12-inch-long, white bottlebrush blooms with red anthers in June to July is spectacular on healthy plants. Its palmate leaves turn yellow in the fall and it grows 8 to 12 feet tall. Both bushes are unattractive to deer and rabbits, and grow in USDA zones 4 through 8.
Thrives in Acidic Soil
Plant Chinese witch hazel “Wisley Supreme” and mountain laurel “Elf” (Kalmia latifolia “Elf”) in acidic soil. Chinese witch hazel offers attractive winter interest because it puts out pale-yellow, sweet-smelling flowers January to March and its foliage turns an attractive shade of yellow in autumn. It grows 10 to 15 feet tall in USDA zones 5 through 9 and resists deer. The attraction of mountain laurel are its showy, light-pink flower buds followed by an abundance of flower clusters featuring not-quite-white cup-shaped blossoms in May. This broadleaf evergreen grows 2 to 3 feet tall in USDA zones 4 through 8 and resists both deer and rabbits.
- Missouri Botanical Garden: Manihot Esculenta "Variegata"
- Missouri Botanical Garden: Euphorbia Cotinifolia
- Missouri Botanical Garden: Rhus Typhina
- Missouri Botanical Garden: Teucrium Chamaedrys
- Missouri Botanical Garden: Aesculus Parviflora
- Missouri Botanical Garden: Paeonia Suffruticosa
- Missouri Botanical Garden: Kalmia Latifolia "Elf"
- Missouri Botanical Garden: Hamamelis Mollis "Wisley Supreme"
- University of California, Davis, Integrated Pest Management: How to Manage Pests in Gardens and Landscapes -- Rabbits
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