I do love living in a place that enables me to randomly come upon wildlife. I regularly see cute spotted fawns, tiptoeing and zig-zagging hurridley away from my approach; fat yellow rock chuck waddling back to their burrows and golden mantled chipmunks twitching and sniffing the air. However, after nearly 30 years of said wildlife ravaging my garden, I’ve reached the point where my normally pacifist nature is buckling under the urge to hurt something cute. Tell me why these critters can’t develop a taste for- oh say, knapweed? But there you go- that’s life. In an attempt to find some balance, I’ve experimented with choosing plants that most of the time some of the vast assortment of Central Oregon wildlife tend to leave alone. Or at least not kill completely…maybe just nibble some and leave a little pile pulled out of the soil for your viewing pleasure. Oh wait. I need to rephrase. I do like living in a place where I can randomly come upon wildlife AND they’re not EATING MY GARDEN.
Most of these plants also do well with lean soils and less water but that’s another rant that I’ll save for next time.
Waterwise and Critter Resistant Perennial Garden for a Sunny Spot
Feather Reed Grass or Heavy Metal Switch Grass
Russian Sage or Blue Oat Grass
Caryopteris or English Lavender (Sharon Roberts or equiv)
Rocky Mt. Penstemon or Allium
Rudbekia or Gaillardia
Scabiosa or May Night Salvia
Moonshine Yarrow
Walker’s Low Catmint
Moonbeam coreopsis or Wild Buckwheat (Eriogonum umbellatum)
Creeping Thyme or Creeping Oregano
Waterwise and Critter Resistant Perennial Garden for a Shadier Spot
Spirea
Tufted Hair Grass
Potentilla
Rocky Mt Penstemon
Allium sp
Cutleaf Bleeding Heart
Hardy Geraniums (Cranebill)
Lamium
Creeping Phlox
Other Good Bets with foliage interest for Water wise and Critter Resistant Central Oregon Spots
Yucca sp Festuca sp Germander ‘Berggarten’ Sage
Powis Castle Artemisia Snowberry
