Is Plains Blackfoot deer resistant?
Melampodium leucanthum
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 Plains Blackfoot
It flowers from March to November and rarely tops a foot — a low, round, bushy plant, a foot or two across, covered the whole time in small white daisies with yellow centres. Deer pass it over. Kindness is what kills it. Rich soil and generous watering will give you many more flowers in the first season and a shorter-lived plant afterwards, so the improved, well-meant border is the worst place you can put it. Dry, rocky, limy ground with real drainage is what it is built for, and it will take alkaline soil above pH 7.2 that defeats most other things. Cut older plants back by half in late winter to keep the mound tight; left alone they open out and go woody in the middle. Nurseries almost always list it as Blackfoot Daisy rather than Plains Blackfoot, so search under that name.
Similar to Plains Blackfoot
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
Where Plains Blackfoot grows
Hardy across most of these 51 states on zone range alone. Mountain and coastal areas sit outside the ranges used here, so check your own zone before ordering.
- Pennsylvania
- New Jersey
- New York
- Connecticut
- Massachusetts
- Virginia
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Wisconsin
- Ohio
- Indiana
- Illinois
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- North Carolina
- Tennessee
- Georgia
- Texasnative
- Coloradonative
- California
- Oregon
- Washington
- New Hampshire
- Vermont
- Maine
- Rhode Island
- Delaware
- West Virginia
- Kentucky
- South Carolina
- Florida
- Alabama
- Mississippi
- Louisiana
- Arkansas
- Oklahomanative
- Kansasnative
- Nebraska
- Iowa
- North Dakota
- South Dakota
- Montana
- Wyoming
- Idaho
- Utah
- Nevada
- Arizonanative
- New Mexiconative
- Alaska
- District of Columbia
- Hawaii
Highlighted states are within its native range according to the USDA PLANTS database, where it is native to 6 US states in total.
Browse from here
Every list Plains Blackfoot belongs to.
Hardy in these zones
Common questions about Plains Blackfoot
- Is Plains Blackfoot deer resistant?
- Plains Blackfoot (Melampodium leucanthum) is rated Seldom Severely Damaged on the Rutgers NJAES four-tier scale. Light browsing at worst; rarely ruined.
- What hardiness zones does Plains Blackfoot grow in?
- Plains Blackfoot is hardy in USDA zones 4 to 11. Outside that range it will either not survive winter or will struggle with summer heat.
- Does Plains Blackfoot grow in shade?
- Yes. Plains Blackfoot tolerates part shade, which makes it one of the options for a shaded bed where deer also browse.
- How big does Plains Blackfoot get?
- Mature height is roughly 12–24 in. Growth rate is moderate.