Perhaps I am a slow learner or maybe I just haven’t taken the time to look around  before now. Yesterday I realized anything blooming and thriving in a public space in Qualicum Beach is – by definition- deer proof. This a a town where deer lounge on most front lawns at night and when you see the signs saying “slow down- deer ahead” – you actually see deer. Like boomers from across Canada, deer have gathered on Vancouver Island. But even with all the deer, the town grows award winning floral displays and the Community in Blooms awards are posted proudly around town.

Among others, deer-accessible flowers include alyssum, ageratum, begonias and salpiglossis. Perennials include rudbeckia, salal, Oregon grape, Phormium and most ornamental grass such as Calamagrostis and Blue Oat grass.

A few years ago after we put up our deer proof fence around the back garden and a baby deer got stuck inside the garden with the mom on the outside. We were right there trying to figure out how the baby got inside the fence. After some frantic erratic dashes past us and towards mom, the baby suddenly found the spot and crawled under the eight inch gap at the bottom of the fence and pranced away.

If you live in a town with deer the first step (and better than looking on the internet) is to walk around your town to see what is thriving and plant that. Seems too simple – doesn’t it?