Fire and Deer Resistant Plant List Las Pilitas Nursery 2017 Genus/Species Common Name Deer Proof by# fire (burn times, in seconds/plant height, in meters, Deer Comments 10 usually safe to max 10) 1 totally nothing is 'safe" but some are best(>60,low and/or destroyed burns poorly), better(30, medium height, medium burn), or you should think about it(<1, high and flash) Abies bracteata Santa Lucia Fir 8 2,usually safe if no fire ladder present usually safe ​ ​ Acacia Greggii Catclaw 10 20, creates a lot of debris very thorny but even gallon stock not bothered Acer circinatum Vine Maple 7 5 Japanese Maple should be similar Acer macrophyllum Big Leaf Maple 8 6, flashy protect when young Acer negundo California Box 9 female 1.5, male more like 5 bothers only seedlings on Elder really bad years Achillea millefolium Yarrow 9 5, if regularly mowed 60 usually dormant when deer californica worst Adenostoma Chamise 6 15, yes, it's really not that bad they browse but don't fasciculatum destroy Adiantum jordanii 9 60(disappears in summer) Aesculus calif Buckeye 7 8 poisonous to all (but gophers & deer have eaten) Agave deserti Century Plant 8 600 on bad years they roll out new plants and eat bottom Agave utahensis Century Plant 10 600 " Alnus rhombifolia White Alder 2 1.5, ok if no fire ladder present water lover, eat the poo out ​ ​ of them on bad years Amelanchier Western Service 5 Great bird plant alnifolia Berry Amorpha californica False Indigo 10 smelly chaparral plant Aquilegia eximia Red Columbine 6 100+ unless you let the debris build up Pretty perennial Aquilegia formosa Western 6 100+ unless you let the debris build up Pretty perennial Columbine Aquilegia pubescens Sierra 6 100+ unless you let the debris build up Pretty perennial Columbine Aquilegia shockleyi Desert 6 100+ unless you let the debris build up Pretty perennial Columbine Arbutus Menziesii Madrone 9 4.5 Structure safe Arctostaphylos spp. Manzanitas 9 ( if native in are much more deer area) resistant in their native areas, gray ones more deer proof Arctostaphylos Brittleleaf 5 crustacea Manzanita Arctostaphylos 'Harmony' 4 60 Only eaten on bad years in densiflora some locales Arctostaphylos 'Howard 4 12 They will eat every leaf,but densiflora McMinn' no stems in bad areas Arctostaphylos 'Sentinel' 8 30 not bothered densiflora Arctostaphylos Sur Manzanita 7 300 very low plant Edmundsii Arctostaphylos 'Danville' 4 probably 100 Edmundsii Arctostaphylos Big Berry 9 5 They usually don't bother glauca Manzanita this Arctostaphylos 'Monterey 4 They will eat every leaf, but Hookeri Carpet' leave stems in bad areas Arctostaphylos 'Wayside' 4 120 They will eat every leaf, but Hookeri leave stems in bad areas Arctostaphylos 'Dr. Hurd' 9 3 They usually don't bother manzanita this Arctostaphylos Morro Bay 7 3 morroensis manzanita Arctostaphylos Pajaro 4 7 pajaroensis Manzanita Arctostaphylos Parry Manzanita 6 20 parryana Arctostaphylos La Panza 6 1 pilosula Manzanita Arctostaphylos Dune Manzanita 4 pumila Arctostaphylos Bear Berry 5 600 uva-ursi Point Reyes Arctostaphylos 'Emerald Carpet' 4 Arctostaphylos 'Greensphere' 4 4 Arctostaphylos 'Sunset' 4 60 Argemone munita Prickly Poppy 5 Armeria maritima Thrift 4 var. calif. Arnica Parryi Sonnei Frog flower 5 Artemisia californica California 5 60, do not allow debris to build up about September they (and Sagebrush the wabbits) eat the new plants to the ground Artemisia Sandhill Sage 4 pycnocephala Artemisia tridentata Big Basin 9 45 Sagebrush Asarum caudatum Wild Ginger 7 100+* Asclepias eriocarpa Monarch 9 60 Milkweed Asclepias speciosa Showy Milkweed 9 55 Aster adscendens Purple Aster 6 600 flat Atriplex lentiformis Brewers Salt 4 20 rabbits will eat until 3' tall Brewer Bush Atriplex canescens Fourwing 4 30 Saltbush Atriplex Desert Holly 5 600 hymenelytra Atriplex polycarpa Alkali Saltbrush 5 30 Baccharis pilularis "Pigeon Point "or 6 600 after first year browsing is 'Santa Ana' great! Keeps plant low, but first year they rip them out Baccharis pilularis Coyote Bush 9 8 consanguinea Beloperone Chuparosa 7 100+* californica Betula occidentalis River Birch 4 Brodiaea puchella Blue Dicks 8 off season with deer Calycanthus Spice Bush 9 30 ccidentalis Carpenteria Bush Anemone 7 25 californica Ceanothus species are relatively hard to burn and respond well to light overhead watering once every two weeks. A dust- off once every two weeks makes them really hard to burn. Water very much at all and the deer will eat. Ceanothus arboreus Island Mountain 2 3 they eat as high as they can Lilac reach Ceanothus cuneatus Buckbrush 9 15 Ceanothus foliosus Scented-leaf 8 Ceanothus gloriosus Hearts Desire 7 20 Ceanothus griseus Big Sur 1 Ceanothus Ceanothus griseus 'Louis Edmunds' 1 Ceanothus griseus Yankee Point 1 60 var. horizon Ceanothus Carpet Mountain 7 150 hearstiorum Lilac Ceanothus Santa Barbara 7 12 will eat new grow in bad impressus Ceanothus years, bucks can do a number on it with antlers Ceanothus Deer Brush 4 integerrimus Ceanothus Lemmon's 6 Lemmonii Ceanothus Ceanothus Whitebark 7 leucodermis Ceanothus Ceanothus 'L.T. Blue' 8 20 Ceanothus Maritime 8 300 nearly flat maritimus Ceanothus Ceanothus Bigpod 8 40 megacarpus Ceanothus Ceanothus Wartleaf 8 papillosus Ceanothus Ceanothus Squaw Carpet 8 600 prostratus Ceanothus 'Mills Glory' 10 30 one of the most deer proof purpureus plants we have seen Ceanothus Jim Bush 7 15 sorediatus Ceanothus Blue Blossom 5 20 thyrsiflorus Ceanothus Romona Lilac 8 tomentosus olivaceus Ceanothus Wartystem 8 38 verrucosus Ceanothus Ceanothus 'Blue Jeans' 10 30 Ceanothus 'Concha' 7 30 will eat new growth in bad years Ceanothus 'Dark Star' 8 Ceanothus gloriosus 'Emily Brown' 9 exaltatus Ceanothus gloriosus 9 600 ​ porrectus Ceanothus 'Frosty Blue' 7 10 Ceanothus 'Joyce Coulter' 7 60 Ceanothus 'Julia Phelps' 8 30 Ceanothus 'Mountain Haze' 7 30 Ceanothus 'Ray Hartman' 2 20 Ceanothus cyaneus 'Sierra Blue' 2 5 Ceanothus rigidus 'Snowball' 10 60 Celtis reticulata Hackberry 8 Cephalanthus Buttonwillow 7 15 occidentalis californica Cercidium floridium Palo Verde 5 15 Cercidium Little Leaf Horse 5 15 microphyllum Bean Cercis occidentalis Western Redbud 7 15 Cercocarpus Alder Leaf 1 15 alnifolius Mountain Mahogany Cercocarpus Mountain 3 15 betuloides Mahogany Cercocarpus Desert Mountain 6 ledifolius Mahogany Chilopsis linearis Desert Willow 7 10 Chlorogalum Soap Plant 7 5 flower stalks are tasty for pomeridianum deer Clematis Virgin's Bower 7 10 ligusticifolia Clematis lasiantha Virgin's Bower 7 10 Comarostaphylis Summer Holly 6 1.5 diversifolia Cornus glabrata Brown Stem 7 5 Dogwood Cornus Nuttallii Mountain 6 Dogwood Cornus sessilis Forest Dogwood 6 Cornus stolonifera Redtwig 6 2 Dogwood Cowania mexicana Cliff Rose 5 stansburiana Crossosoma Crabapple bush 5 californicum Cupressus Bakeri Modoc Cypress 10 Cupressus Forbesii Tecate Cypress 10 8 Cupressus Gowen Cypress 10 Goveniana ssp. goveniana Cupressus McNab Cypress 10 macnabiana Cupressus Piute Cypress 10 4 nevadensis Cupressus Sargentii Sargent Cypress 10 Delphinium Scarlet Larkspur 9 cardinale Delphinium Parishii Sky-Blue 9 Larkspur Dendromecon rigida Bush Poppy 5 20 Dicentra chrysantha Golden Ear 8 Drops Diplacus Sticky Monkey 9 60 aurantiacus Flower Diplacus Azalea-flowered 8 1 not favorites but will eat fasciculatus monkey Diplacus longiflorus Southern 8 90 Monkey Flower Diplacus calycinus Rock Monkey 8 Flower Diplacus puniceus Mission Monkey 8 6 Hygine and a little water Flower dramtically helps the numbers on monkeys. Dodecatheon Shooting Star 4 Clevelandii Dodecatheon 4 Clevelandii var. insulare Draba oligosperma Yellow Flowered 9 Moss Dudleya cymosa Liveforever 7(ducks love) Dudleya edulis Narrow Leaf 7(ducks love) Liveforever Dudleya lanceolata Liveforever 6 600 Dudleya Chalk Dudleya 8 600 pulverulenta Dyssodia thurberi Dainty Yellow 8 Composite Encelia farinosa Incienso 5 60 Erigeron glaucus Seaside Daisy 7 300 Eriodictyon Yerba Santa 8 20 californicum Eriodictyon Wooly Yerba 8 20 tomentosum Santa Eriogonum Santa Cruz 3 60 arborescens Island Buckwheat Eriogonum Silver Buckwheat 3 caespitosum Eriogonum Ash-Leaf 3 cinereum Buckwheat Eriogonum Dry Mountain 4 compositum Buckwheat Eriogonum Saffron 4 crocatum Buckwheat Eriogonum California 6 60 fasciculatum Buckwheat Eriogonum Gray Calif. Buck 6 60 fasciculatum polifolium Eriogonum Saint Catherine's 6 60 The fire numbers suprised giganteum Lace us also. Eriogonum grande Red Buckwheat 5 180 rubescens Eriogonum Sulfur Flower 5 100 umbellatum Eriogonum Wrightii High Mountain 5 300 var. subscaposum Eriophyllum Golden Yarrow 6 4 confertiflorum Eriophyllum Spider Yarrow 6 lanatum var. arachnoideum Erysimum Scented 5 concinnum Wallflower Erysimum menziesii Menzes's 5 Wallflower Fallugia paradoxa Apache Plume 5 30 Ferocactus Barrel Cactus 7 9 on bad years they will eat acanthodes from bottom up, thorns burn like small twigs Forestiera Desrt Olive 5 neomexicana Fragaria californica Wood 9 600 Strawberry Fragaria chiloensis Beach 9 600 Strawberry Fraxinus dipetala Flowering Ash 7 2 Fremontodendron California 4 15 californicum Flannel Bush Fremontodendron 4 1 Hybrid (PACIFIC SUNSET) Fremontodendron Mexican Flannel 7 mexicanum Galvezia speciosa Island 1 Snapdragon Garrya elliptica 'James Roof' 7 4 SilkTassel Haplopappus Narrowleaf 7 linearifolius Golden Bush Helenium hoopsii Owlclaws 7 500 Heteromeles Toyon 7 12 arbutifolia Heuchera micrantha Alum Root 8 Heuchera Hairy Alum Root 8 pilosissima Heuchera rubescens Dwarf Alum 8 var. glandulosa Holodiscus discolor Cream Bush 6 Hyptis Emoryi Desert-Lavender 7 Iris Douglasiana