Is Primrose deer resistant?

An enormous genus with wildly different needs, so identify which species you have before deciding where to plant it. Most garden primulas want cool moist soil and part shade, and most fail in hot dry summers. Divide the clumps every few years or flowering falls off.

Do deer eat primroses?

Seldom. Rutgers rates the genus Seldom Severely Damaged, B, and Iowa State lists primrose in the same tier. NC State's entry for the genus says nothing about deer, so the tier rests on those two, and on a genus this large the tier is an average of plants that differ a good deal. The garden primulas are small, early and finished before summer pressure builds, which is most of their protection; the soft leaf has none of its own.

Where it grows

NC State gives the genus zones 3a through 11b, dappled or partial shade to deep shade, flowering in spring, and a problem list that is the real enemy: "Watch for slugs, snails, weevils, aphids and spider mites." A primrose eaten to the crown in a damp bed is slug work far more often than it is deer. The ASPCA lists primrose as toxic to dogs, cats and horses; the callout below carries it.

Protecting primroses

Rarely needed from deer. From slugs, the usual measures, and dividing the clumps every few years so the crowns stay vigorous.

If it is browsed

It regrows from the crown, slowly, and a plant browsed in flower is done for the spring. The clump is not in danger unless the crown was pulled, which is what a deer's tearing bite does to a shallow-rooted plant and what a slug cannot.