Is Camellia deer resistant?

Rutgers has not rated camellia; E271 was compiled in northern New Jersey, where the plant is at the edge of survival. The tier here is a conservative mapping from NC State's Plant Toolbox, which lists deer among the challenges Camellia japonica resists, into Seldom Severely Damaged, as this site did for wild bergamot. A single-category source, read cautiously.

Do deer eat camellias?

Seldom, by NC State's classification, and the leaf is the reason: thick, glossy, evergreen and not much like food. The flower buds sit on the plant through winter for a February-to-April bloom, and winter is when a deer with nothing else will test anything; a young camellia at 3 feet carries all of its buds inside that reach. Nothing consulted here scores camellia in a trial, so the classification is the whole evidence.

Where it grows

NC State: zones 7 to 9, partial shade, "10 to 13 feet tall" at maturity, flowering late winter into spring. Its listed troubles are "frequent disease problems, frequent insect problems," scale, aphids, spider mites, petal blight, root rot, and every one of those is a likelier reason a camellia looks poor than a deer is.

Protecting a camellia

The first three winters, a cage of welded wire around a plant whose buds are all within reach; after that the height does the work. The 20 percent egg spray Colorado State rates High buys about thirty days on the buds through a cold spell. The ASPCA lists Camellia japonica as non-toxic to dogs, cats and horses.

If it is browsed

The shrub regrows from old wood; the year's flowers on the eaten shoots are gone, since the buds were set the previous summer. A camellia browsed in January flowers again the following winter if it is left alone through the summer that sets the buds.