Is Sea Holly deer resistant?
Eryngium sp.
Deer will destroy this. Do not plant it unprotected.
Rating source: Rutgers NJAES E271
About Sea Holly
Genuinely surprising at this rating, because the whole plant is stiff, spiny and metallic. Deer eat it anyway. If you want the same steel-blue architecture without the losses, globe thistle is rated Rarely Damaged and reads similarly in a border. Needs sharp drainage and resents being moved once the taproot is down.
Soil and care
- Soil pH
- 6 to 7.5
- Drainage
- Sharp, gritty. Will rot in wet soil
- Water
- Low
- Spacing
- 18 to 24 in apart
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Maintenance
- Low
Deer-resistant alternatives to Sea Holly
Same plant type, hardy in the same zones, but rated better on the Rutgers scale. If Sea Holly keeps getting eaten, these go in the same spot.
- Anise HyssopAgastache sp.Zones 4–9, genus rangeRarely damaged
- AsparagusAsparagus officinalisZones 2–9Seldom damaged
- Baby's BreathGypsophila sp.Zones 3–9, genus rangeSeldom damaged
- Bearded IrisIris germanicaZones 3–9Rarely damaged
- Black-Eyed SusanRudbeckia sp.Zones 3–9, genus rangeSeldom damaged
- Blazing StarLiatris sp.Zones 3–9, genus rangeSeldom damaged
Similar to Sea Holly
Other perennials with the same deer rating.
Protecting Sea Holly
Deer will destroy this without protection, so the question is which kind you are willing to pay for.
- How tall a deer fence needs to beEight feet, and six is the most common expensive mistake in deer fencing.
- What a deer fence costsMaterial ratios are stable even when prices are not, and installation reliably doubles the figure.
- Repellent that actually worksThe egg-based recipe that reproduces the active ingredient in the commercial sprays that win university trials.
- Check it is actually deerDeer tear and leave a ragged stub. A clean 45-degree cut is rabbits, and slug holes get blamed on deer constantly.
Where Sea Holly 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
- Texas
- Colorado
- California
- Oregon
- Washington
- New Hampshire
- Vermont
- Maine
- Rhode Island
- Delaware
- West Virginia
- Kentucky
- South Carolina
- Florida
- Alabama
- Mississippi
- Louisiana
- Arkansas
- Oklahoma
- Kansas
- Nebraska
- Iowa
- North Dakota
- South Dakota
- Montana
- Wyoming
- Idaho
- Utah
- Nevada
- Arizona
- New Mexico
- Alaska
- District of Columbia
- Hawaii
Browse from here
Every list Sea Holly belongs to.
Hardy in these zones
Common questions about Sea Holly
- Is Sea Holly deer resistant?
- Sea Holly (Eryngium sp.) is rated Frequently Severely Damaged on the Rutgers NJAES four-tier scale. Deer will destroy this. Do not plant it unprotected.
- What hardiness zones does Sea Holly grow in?
- Sea Holly is hardy in USDA zones 4 to 9. Outside that range it will either not survive winter or will struggle with summer heat. That is the range across the genus, so a named species or cultivar may be narrower.
- Does Sea Holly grow in shade?
- No. Sea Holly wants full sun and will grow thin and flop in shade.