My Deer Garden

Plant record · Shrub

Is Prairie Sagewort deer resistant?

Artemisia frigida

Prairie Sagewort
Damage step 2 of 4 · Seldom Severely Damaged

Mostly. Light browsing at worst; rarely ruined.

Type
Shrub
Hardiness
Zones 3–10
Light
Full sun
Height
6–18 in
Bloom
Summer
Maintenance
Moderate
Native range
27 US states

Damage steps follow a published university field scale. How plants are rated.

About Prairie Sagewort

It reads as silver ground cover rather than a shrub, though it is woody at the base and rarely passes eighteen inches — deeply divided, woolly, almost hair-like foliage with a sharp aromatic oil in it. That oil is the basis of its rating.

Kindness is the usual cause of death. This is a plant of ground that gets 8 to 12 inches of rain in a year, at anything from 4,000 to 11,000 feet, so a bed on an ordinary garden irrigation schedule is simply too wet for it. Poor, dry soil in full sun, no feeding, and no summer water once it has taken.

Two honest notes. Mule deer do eat it — use is heaviest in February and March, and it made up 12.5 percent of the April diet in one study — so treat the rating as relative rather than absolute. And the pollen is a cause of hay fever, so not one to site under a window.

Similar to Prairie Sagewort

Other shrubs with the same deer rating.

Where Prairie Sagewort grows

Hardy across every state on zone range alone, and native to 27 of them. Mountain and coastal areas sit outside the ranges used here, so check your own zone before ordering. Select any state, including one it will not grow in, for what is resistant there.

Alabama — hardy here. Zones 7 to 9.Alaska — native, and hardy. Zones 1 to 8.Arizona — native, and hardy. Zones 5 to 10.Arkansas — hardy here. Zones 6 to 8.California — hardy here. Zones 7 to 10.Colorado — native, and hardy. Zones 3 to 6.Connecticut — native, and hardy. Zones 5 to 7.Delaware — hardy here. Zones 7 to 7.District of Columbia — hardy here. Zones 7 to 8.Florida — hardy here. Zones 8 to 11.Georgia — hardy here. Zones 7 to 9.Hawaii — hardy here. Zones 9 to 12.Idaho — native, and hardy. Zones 3 to 7.Illinois — native, and hardy. Zones 5 to 7.Indiana — hardy here. Zones 5 to 6.Iowa — native, and hardy. Zones 4 to 6.Kansas — native, and hardy. Zones 5 to 7.Kentucky — hardy here. Zones 6 to 7.Louisiana — hardy here. Zones 8 to 10.Maine — hardy here. Zones 3 to 6.Maryland — hardy here. Zones 6 to 8.Massachusetts — native, and hardy. Zones 5 to 7.Michigan — native, and hardy. Zones 4 to 6.Minnesota — native, and hardy. Zones 3 to 5.Mississippi — hardy here. Zones 7 to 9.Missouri — native, and hardy. Zones 5 to 7.Montana — native, and hardy. Zones 3 to 6.Nebraska — native, and hardy. Zones 4 to 6.Nevada — native, and hardy. Zones 4 to 9.New Hampshire — hardy here. Zones 3 to 6.New Jersey — native, and hardy. Zones 6 to 7.New Mexico — native, and hardy. Zones 4 to 9.New York — native, and hardy. Zones 4 to 7.North Carolina — hardy here. Zones 6 to 8.North Dakota — native, and hardy. Zones 3 to 4.Ohio — hardy here. Zones 5 to 6.Oklahoma — hardy here. Zones 6 to 8.Oregon — hardy here. Zones 6 to 9.Pennsylvania — native, and hardy. Zones 5 to 7.Rhode Island — hardy here. Zones 6 to 7.South Carolina — hardy here. Zones 7 to 9.South Dakota — native, and hardy. Zones 3 to 5.Tennessee — hardy here. Zones 6 to 8.Texas — native, and hardy. Zones 6 to 9.Utah — native, and hardy. Zones 4 to 9.Vermont — native, and hardy. Zones 3 to 5.Virginia — hardy here. Zones 6 to 8.Washington — native, and hardy. Zones 5 to 8.West Virginia — hardy here. Zones 5 to 7.Wisconsin — native, and hardy. Zones 3 to 5.Wyoming — native, and hardy. Zones 3 to 6.
Native and hardyHardy on zone rangeNot hardy — still linked
Choose a state from the listeasier on a phone

Common questions about Prairie Sagewort

Is Prairie Sagewort deer resistant?
Prairie Sagewort (Artemisia frigida) is rated Seldom Severely Damaged, step 2 of 4 on the damage scale this site uses. Light browsing at worst; rarely ruined.
What hardiness zones does Prairie Sagewort grow in?
Prairie Sagewort is hardy in USDA zones 3 to 10. Outside that range it will either not survive winter or will struggle with summer heat.
Does Prairie Sagewort grow in shade?
No. Prairie Sagewort wants full sun and will grow thin and flop in shade.
How big does Prairie Sagewort get?
Mature height is roughly 6–18 in. Growth rate is moderate.

Browse from here

Every list Prairie Sagewort belongs to.

All shrubs·Seldom damaged·Full sun plants

Hardy in these zones

Zone 3·Zone 4·Zone 5·Zone 6·Zone 7·Zone 8·Zone 9

Damage ratings follow the four-step field scale published by Rutgers University. Growing data is compiled from state extension sources and still being verified record by record. Last reviewed .