Is Silver Buffaloberry deer resistant?
Shepherdia argentea
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 Silver Buffaloberry
Be honest about this one: deer do eat it. It made up 15 percent of mule deer summer diets in one Montana study. What saves the shrub is not refusal but armour and recovery — spines up to two inches long, and a complex network of underground stems and rootstocks that puts up new growth faster than anything can strip it. So plan for the spread rather than the browsing. Connected shrubs can stand twenty feet apart, which means one plant becomes a thicket, and cutting the tops changes nothing because the regrowth comes from below ground. On a boundary or a raw bank that is exactly the behaviour you want. In a border it is a decision you will be undoing for years. It will also take the poorest rocky, sandy or alkaline ground you have, which only makes it more determined. It is dioecious — male and female flowers on separate plants, both needed for fruit — so a lone shrub will never berry. The red fruit is sour raw and better after a hard frost.
Similar to Silver Buffaloberry
Other shrubs with the same deer rating.
- Antelope BitterbrushPurshia tridentataSeldom damaged
- Anthony Waterer SpireaSpiraea x bumaldaZones 3–8Seldom damaged
- Apache PlumeFallugia paradoxaZones 6–10Seldom damaged
- Armstrong JuniperJuniperus chinensis 'Armstrongii'Zones 4–9Seldom damaged
- Autumn OliveElaeagnus umbellataZones 4–9Seldom damaged
- Autumn SageSalvia greggiiZones 6–9Seldom damaged
Where Silver Buffaloberry 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 Yorknative
- Connecticut
- Massachusetts
- Virginia
- Maryland
- Michigannative
- Wisconsinnative
- Ohio
- Indiana
- Illinois
- Minnesotanative
- Missouri
- North Carolina
- Tennessee
- Georgia
- Texas
- Coloradonative
- Californianative
- Oregonnative
- Washington
- New Hampshire
- Vermont
- Maine
- Rhode Island
- Delaware
- West Virginia
- Kentucky
- South Carolina
- Florida
- Alabama
- Mississippi
- Louisiana
- Arkansas
- Oklahoma
- Kansasnative
- Nebraskanative
- Iowanative
- North Dakotanative
- South Dakotanative
- Montananative
- Wyomingnative
- Idahonative
- Utahnative
- Nevadanative
- 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 19 US states in total.
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Every list Silver Buffaloberry belongs to.
Hardy in these zones
Common questions about Silver Buffaloberry
- Is Silver Buffaloberry deer resistant?
- Silver Buffaloberry (Shepherdia argentea) is rated Seldom Severely Damaged on the Rutgers NJAES four-tier scale. Light browsing at worst; rarely ruined.
- What hardiness zones does Silver Buffaloberry grow in?
- Silver Buffaloberry is hardy in USDA zones 3 to 9. Outside that range it will either not survive winter or will struggle with summer heat.
- Does Silver Buffaloberry grow in shade?
- No. Silver Buffaloberry wants full sun and will grow thin and flop in shade.
- How big does Silver Buffaloberry get?
- Mature height is roughly 240–240 in. Growth rate is moderate.