While summersweet loves to get its feet wet and is ideal for a rain garden, it can also tolerate average soil like a champion. Along with these amenable credentials, Clethra is deer resistant and attracts butterflies and hummingbirds with its fragrant flowers.

Is Clethra Ruby Spice deer resistant?

'Ruby Spice' is a truly special clethra, with the best pink flowers you'll find on the species. Deep reddish-pink flowers don't fade to white, and their fragrance attracts butterflies to the summer garden. This deer resistant native plant has nice yellow fall foliage, too.

What plants do deer hate the most?

Daffodils, foxgloves, and poppies are common flowers with a toxicity that deer avoid. Deer also tend to turn their noses up at fragrant plants with strong scents. Herbs such as sages, ornamental salvias, and lavender, as well as flowers like peonies and bearded irises, are just “stinky” to deer.