A Tale of Two Iris Species

Deer resistance is an ever popular topic among gardeners and horticulturalists who live in deer country. This morning very early, I went outside to count the deer. There were five, but this time they were on the east side of the house when typically they are on the northwest slope where shrubs and flowering plants abound. Among the flowering plants are two types of Irises, a cultivated variety and a wild variety. I had thought that both varieties were deer resistant since the earlier developing stalks and leaves of the cultivated Iris are nibbled but largely left alone. At least, that was my observation through April of this year.

But now, in the middle of May, the Irises have flowered and I can see that my observations regarding Irises are only half right. The deer do not so much like the Iris plants as they do the flower buds. The Iris leaves and stalks are most abundant and look healthy, but the tips of the stalks, where the blooms would be, are clipped and empty.

Meanwhile, just twenty yards away, the wild Irises are flourishing, left alone, elegant, slender, and somehow regal. And then I have an experiment in progress. There are many so-called “deer-resistant” sprays and treatments advertising that they will repel deer but few of them work. However, and that is a big “however,” there is an expensive and foul smelling product manufactured in the Pennsylvania sticks that does seem to work. I have applied it to the cultivated Irises. I’m not sure how well it works though I am sure it is having some good affect. That is why the deer were this morning on the Southeast side of the house where there are no flowers or shrubs.