Why would they eat sometning that they have never seen before. I have seen them out on meadows at sunset, eating grass and flowers. I don't know if they would eat comething strange. Call a local zoo and see what they say. I have never raised deer before. So no experience. Norma

Deer will eat almost anything I buy from the garden center and plant, walking right up on to our front porch.....however, I have literally hundreds of pots of South African and South American bulbs and they absolutely leave those completely alone so I would guess that you are fine with these.....I do not have any Kalanchoe however so no direct experience :o) Dan

Thanks to all for your replies. It sounds as if there is a good chance paddle plants may not be palatable to deer, so I'm going to put some out front and see what happens.

I don't live where there are deer walking up to my front porch. Animals are not stupid. They don't eat what is not good for them. They instinctly know. They are not like us. Even though we and they are mammels. They are smarter in many ways. Find someone who lives out into the woods, and grows a luciae and also has deer on the property. Observe them, and learn. Norma

I'm a bit late to this thread. We lived for years in the TX hill country and had large numbers of whitetail and axis deer roaming our patios nightly. I kept a pot of Kalanchoe luciae outdoors all summer, and occasionally I'd find a nice round deer bite in one of the paddles, but it never was a big favorite with them. The occasional deer bites sure do show up on the big round leaves, however, so you have to have a sense of humor about the resulting look. That was nothing compared to the complete destruction of many other plants, though, so I didn't mind the occasional chomp mark.

My hat is off to anyone who gardens in areas with large deer populations (or equally challenging rabbits!) It's not easy! Best of luck to you.

"Animals are not stupid. They don't eat what is not good for them."

Deer often will at least try to eat any plant, then spit it out. Their natural habitat has been greatly altered, so their natural behavior has to change to try to survive.

Yup, that was my experience too. Some plants that were not (apparently) palatable would be uprooted, and that's how I'd find them when I got home from work (cooked dry in the hot sun!) Almost any new plant I brought home from the nursery stood a good chance of being chomped or yanked out. It was part of the deal in gardening there; trial and error (both for the deer, and for me.)

I can't blame the deer, especially in times of drought, when the damage was the worst.