Is Parsley deer resistant?

A biennial, so it flowers and goes bitter in its second spring. Sow fresh every year and treat it as an annual. The seed is slow and erratic; soaking overnight helps. Flat-leaf types have better flavor, curled types better texture.

Do deer eat parsley?

Seldom. Rutgers rates it B, Iowa State puts it in the second tier with basil and dill, and NC State's entry says nothing about deer at all, so the tier rests on Rutgers and the Iowa State survey. Parsley is the least aromatic herb on this list and the one most like a salad green, and under pressure a row of it is taken with the lettuce. The other animal that eats it is a caterpillar: NC State calls parsley "important as a food source for the black swallowtail butterfly larvae."

Where it grows

A biennial grown as an annual, 8 inches to 3 feet, full sun, flowering in its second summer in heads that "look similar to Queen Anne's Lace." NC State's problem list is fungal, septoria leaf spot and stem rot, and insect, carrot weevil and flea beetles. NC State gives no hardiness range and the encyclopedia carries none for it either.

Protecting parsley

A wire ring where rabbits are the problem. From deer, the 20 percent egg spray is the wrong answer on a leaf eaten raw and a row cover is the right one. The ASPCA lists parsley as toxic to dogs, cats and horses; NC State rates the severity Low, photosensitization from furanocoumarins, and adds that "large amounts are needed to cause this effect." The callout below carries it.

If it is browsed

It regrows from the crown, as it does after every cutting, and a first-year plant that has been browsed is not lost. A second-year plant that has bolted is bitter whether or not anything ate it.