Is Old Man's Whiskers deer resistant?
Geum triflorum
Light browsing at worst; rarely ruined.
Not listed by Rutgers NJAES. Rated deer-resistant by El Paso County CSU Extension, whose list is a single category, mapped conservatively to Seldom Severely Damaged.
About Old Man's Whiskers
April brings the flowers first: dusky reddish-pink bells hanging in threes over rosettes of grey-green ferny foliage. Deer usually leave it alone. Tidiness is what spoils it. Deadhead and you throw away the better half of the plant, because what follows the flowers is a mass of long pink feathery styles — the whiskers of the name — and they hold through much of the summer. The foliage is semi-evergreen and turns deep red, so autumn is the wrong moment to cut it down as well. Tidy in late winter, if at all. Six inches to a foot and a half high, spreading into dense mats that work as ground cover along a path edge. It is not fussy about soil: thin ground over limestone suits it, and so do prairie loams, clay and sand, though it does best where the ground holds a little moisture.
Similar to Old Man's Whiskers
Other perennials with the same deer rating.
- African LilyAgapanthus sp.Zones 8–11, genus rangeSeldom damaged
- AsparagusAsparagus officinalisZones 2–9Seldom damaged
- AsterAster sp.Zones 3–8, genus rangeSeldom damaged
- AstilbeAstilbe x arendsiiZones 3–8Seldom damaged
- Baby's BreathGypsophila sp.Zones 3–9, genus rangeSeldom damaged
- BastardsageEriogonum wrightiiZones 5–10Seldom damaged
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Common questions about Old Man's Whiskers
- Is Old Man's Whiskers deer resistant?
- Old Man's Whiskers (Geum triflorum) is rated Seldom Severely Damaged on the Rutgers NJAES four-tier scale. Light browsing at worst; rarely ruined.
- Does Old Man's Whiskers grow in shade?
- Yes. Old Man's Whiskers tolerates part shade, which makes it one of the options for a shaded bed where deer also browse.
- How big does Old Man's Whiskers get?
- Mature height is roughly 6–18 in. Growth rate is moderate.