I would like to know if there are any daylilies which are deer resistant. I didn't see any references to deer resistance on the daylily page. I apologize if I've overlooked it. On some sites I've seen that they are not deer resistant, however, when we travel to our vacation home in the mountains, there are daylilies all over and the many, many deer there don't touch them. So I am a bit confused. My interest was in the "Country Melody" . I would appreciate some guidance. Thank you

My area is more farming and fewer woodlands, so deer seem to go for almost anything in my garden. They only seem to eat the foliage early in spring when it is first coming up, and again after frost if the plants are evergreen. Between those times, they will go down the rows and eat the buds from every scape they come to. Of course, they do prefer the new twigs on my fruit trees more. In an area where there are more woodlands, perhaps having more of a selection other than daylilies might be the factor that will save your daylilies- but I wouldn't count on it.

I have a neighbor behind me that feeds the deer with an automatic feeder. I was afraid that would attract a bunch of deer to my garden and they would eat my daylilies. I do see slight damage now and again, and I do sometimes see deer tracks. But it appears after several years of my neighbor feeding the deer that they are content to just eat food from the feeder and that might actually be saving my daylilies. So I think it depends more on the conditions around the deer, if they get hungry I think they will eat whatever will help them survive.
I have no knowledge of any deer resistant daylily cultivars.

Hello & to the NGA forum!

I have a good amount of deer here but very minimal damage. They don't seem to care at all for my kwanso (ditch lilies) behind the fence at the woodline (although I don't inspect them) but have seen them eat buds from my display gardens on occasion.

I use a lot of Milorganite fertilizer and it seems to be an effective deterrent. Also keeps them away from my hosta. You will want to reapply after heavy rains as they will wash away the scent over time. I have found it at Lowe's and Home Depot.

Even if the deer nibble on your daylilies they won't be killed. They're very hardy! I would advise planting them in a couple of different spots just in case so you won't miss blooms if deer do become a problem.

Good luck and happy (daylily) gardening!

Hi, welcome to the forum.

I don't think there are any deer-resistant daylilies. Deer like daylilies, especially the buds, and if they are hungry they will eat the foliage, too.

People do have different experiences with deer. Some find that nothing but a really tall fence will keep them away. Others find that applications of Milorganite, Liquid Fence, or Bobbex will deter them. Others don't have much of a problem with deer--I think this is sometimes the case when there is other abundant food available.

I myself apply Liquid Fence every couple of weeks during the season when daylilies are budding and blooming. I apply extra after it rains. Right now, in winter, I have to apply some, too. We don't have any snow cover here, and the grass is brown, so the deer have been here nibbling at the new daylily growth. I just noticed this the other day along with a pile of deer manure near one of my beds. That is a job for today.

As far as I know there are no daylilies that some deer will not eat under some conditions. Here they eat the new shoots right down to the ground early in the spring as the snow melts. They will then later in the season eat the flower buds and yet later in the year eat the pods.
What they will eat depends on what else is available nearby that they prefer to eat and how much of the more preferable foodstuffs is available.
However, I also think that what deer do to daylilies depends to some extent on what they have learned to do in previous years. So the deer in one location may not eat any daylilies for many years until after the first time that they try tasting some. Then they will be more likely to come back to eat them in the future. What they do will also depend on how difficult it is to eat the daylilies or how nervous they are about being in the area with the daylilies, etc. So it may not be possible to simply guess how the deer in a different location will act when daylilies are available to eat.

If only!!! The only way I've found them to be deer resistant is to grow them behind an 8' deer fence.