Is Plumbago (Leadwort) deer resistant?

Gentian-blue flowers in late summer while the foliage turns bronze-red underneath them, which is an unusually good combination that late in the year. It emerges very late in spring, so mark the position. Spreads slowly by underground stems into a useful low carpet.

Is plumbago deer resistant?

Mostly. Rutgers rates Ceratostigma plumbaginoides Seldom Severely Damaged, B, Iowa State lists it among the groundcovers in its second tier, and NC State's line is "This plant is resistant to damage by deer," with drought, dry soil, erosion and poor soil on the same list. It is low enough and late enough that there is little to take and little reason to.

This is the hardy plumbago, also sold as leadwort. Cape plumbago, Plumbago auriculata, the blue-flowered shrub of Florida and California gardens, is a different plant in a different family and is not rated by Rutgers.

Where it grows

NC State: zones 5a to 9b, 6 to 8 inches, full sun or partial shade, flowering summer into fall over foliage that turns red as the flowers open. "No diseases or insect issues," with powdery mildew and citrus mealybug as occasional visitors, and one warning: "Contact with this plant can cause contact dermatitis in some people."

Protecting plumbago

Nothing.

If it is browsed

It regrows from the underground stems that make it a groundcover in the first place, and a patch browsed in one spot fills from the sides. It is late up in spring either way, and a bare patch in May is not damage; mark the position.