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OREGON · DEER-RESISTANT NATIVE PLANTS

Deer-resistant native plants in Oregon

Species deer usually leave alone, often because of aromatic, fuzzy or toxic leaves. No plant is deer-proof; hungry deer browse anything.

28Species
16With a live listing

Quick answer: 28 deer-resistant native plants are native to Oregon, 16 with a live listing as of 04 Nov 2026.

28 species

Deer-resistant native plants in Oregon: what to know

28 of the 88 plants native to Oregon in this directory fit this need: 32% of the state's list, above the 28% share across all species.

Between them they flower from February through October, with the most in bloom in June. Mixing early and late bloomers keeps the planting useful all season.

Many do double duty: 23 are also good for pollinators, 20 are also drought-tolerant, 11 are also good for birds.

26 of them grow in full or partial sun and 3 tolerate shade, so there are options for open beds and woodland edges alike. Sizes run from low plants like California fuchsia and Common yarrow to trees such as Bearberry and California flannelbush. For wildlife, 23 support pollinators, 11 provide food or cover for birds and 3 are caterpillar host plants.

16 of the 28 have a seed or plant listing we verified as the wild species. Be careful buying Common yarrow: common listings for it are often a bred variety or a different species.

Good places to start

Verified wild-species listings that take sun and are widely native, so they are forgiving first plants.

  • Canada wild rye Elymus canadensis · Sun, Part Shade · blooms Mar-Jun
  • Bearberry Arctostaphylos uva-ursi · Sun, Part Shade, Shade · blooms Mar-Jun
  • Prairie Junegrass Koeleria macrantha · Sun · blooms Apr-Jun

See all native plants for Oregon →