Rabbit Resistant Perennials

Rabbits are becoming more and more of a nuisance in landscape plantings. I am sorry to say there is no perfect list of plants that are rabbit resistant. Animals that are hungry will eat almost anything. Here are some things you can do to help keep bunnies and other small critters out of your landscape.

o Remove protective cover such as brush piles where rabbits hide and nest.

o Keep some open areas in the landscape. Smaller critters normally avoid areas of open space to steer clear of predators.

o Repellents don’t always work and what works in one yard may not work in another. Read the labels and make certain the product specifies rabbit. Rabbits don’t respond to odor repellents as deer do so most deer repellents won’t affect rabbits.

o Newly introduced plantings or recently moved perennials are more apt to be nibbled because of curiosity. So repellents can help to detour curiosity. Once the plants are more mature they are less likely to be eaten.

Please be patient and remember what is resilient in one yard may not be in another. Rabbits in one region will have different tastes than rabbits in another. There is no perfect list and we can not guarantee that rabbits will not eat the below listed perennials.

The list below was compiled from 3 different reputable lists of rabbit tolerant perennials. However ‘Beechwood Landscape Architecture and Construction’ is not responsible for any plants that may be eaten by rabbits.

Common Name

Alumroot or Coral Bells

Anemone

Astilbe

Aster

Bee balm

Bergenia Heartleaf

Blanket Flower

Bleeding Heart

Bugbane

Bugle Weed

Bugloss

Cat Mint

Columbine

Cornflower

Crocosmia

Daylilly

Dead Nettle

Foxglove

Geraniums or Cranes Bill

Goat’s Beard

Goldenrod

Hosta

Hyssop

Iris

Joe Pye Weed

Jupiter’s Beard

Knot weed or Fleece Flower

Lady’s Mantle

Lamb’s Ear

Lavender

Lilly of the Valley

Lenten Rose

Lung Wart

Lilyturf

Ornamental onions - Chives Yarrow

Penstemon

Peony

Creeping Phlox

Pincushion Flower

Evening Primrose

Red Hot Poker

Rodger’s Flower

Stone Crop

Spiderwort

Speedwell

Spurge

Sweet Woodruff

Yarrow

Blue Fescue Grass

Maiden Grass

Mondo Grass

Pampas Grass

Latin Name/Common Name

Achillea/Yarrow

Agastache/Hyssop

Ajuga/Bugle Weed

Alchemilla/Lady’s Mantle

Allium/Ornamental onions or Chives

Anemone/Windflower

Aquilegia/Columbine

Aruncas/Goat’s Beard

Aster/Aster

Astilbe/False Spirea

Bergenia/Heartleaf

Brunnera/Bugloss

Centaurea/Cornflower

Centranthus/Jupiter’s Beard

Cimicifuga/Snakeroot or Bugbane

Convallaria/ Lilly of the Valley

Corcosmia/Montbretia

Chrysanthemum/Mums

Dicentra/Bleeding Heart

Digitalis/Foxglove

Eupatorium/Joe Pye Weed

Euphorbia/Spurge

Gaillardia/Blanket Flower

Gallium/Sweet Woodruff

Geranium/Cranes Bill

Helleborus/Lenten Rose

Hemerocallis/Daylilly

Heuchera/Coral Bells

Hosta/Plantain Lily

Iris/Iris

Kniphofia/Red Hot Poker

Lamium/Dead Nettle

Lavandula/Lavender

Monarda/Bee balm

Nepeta/Cat Mint

Oenothera/Evening Primrose

Paeonia/Peony

Penstemon/Beard Tongue

Polygonum/Fleece Flower

Phlox/creeping Phlox

Pulmonaria/Lung Wart

Rodgersia/Rodger’s Flower

Scabiosa/Pincushion Flower

Sedum/Stone Crop

Solidago/Goldenrod

Stachys/Lamb’s Ear

Tradescantia/Spiderwort

Veronica/Speedwell

Cortaderia/Pampas Grass

Festuca/Blue Fescue Grass

Miscanthus/Maiden Grass

Ophiopogon/Mondo Grass