I am very sorry to hear that. I have been told that hellebores are deer resistant.
I have some near the street where the deer do wander and hope they stay away.
mary

Hellebores are considered highly deer resistant, but starving deer (like starving people) will eat anything, even if it's poisonous. I would spray the bed, and cover it with deer netting, well weighted down. But if the deer are starving--and they must be--they will try to remove the netting. Be glad you don't have yews, rhodies and azaleas.

The hellebore probably will recover, laceyvail must be in deer country and is absolutely correct.

I have deer, but the deer are healthy and leave the hellebore alone. In other parts of town they commonly see herds of deer, up to forty in a group wandering this time of year eating everything they can reach. They are known to eat Mountain Laural which is non-edible too. They destroy whole landscapes.

Laceyvail - We've had a lot of snow but the snow is melting off and there's a lot of stuff getting exposed now. Saw 15 "signs" of deer throughout the gardens yesterday. I have rhodies, azaleas and yew too, covered, sprayed and so far, untouched. Thank heavens the peonies aren't up yet.

Fleur, peonies are among the highly deer resistant plants. And yes, bruceNH, I am in deer country, and am a garden consultant whose specialty is gardening in deer country. It's transformed the way people have to garden.

Have you tried hanging chunks of Irish Spring soap around the area you want to keep the deer out of? They where mowing my few trillims down untill I tried this. I used a hacksaw to make about 2" square chunks then tied them to bushes with fishing line letting the soap hang down on the fishing line far enough to be close to the plants I wanted to protect. I also left some at about nose lever for the deer. I don't know if it will work for you but it couldn't hurt. If you don't have bushes or tress nearby to hang them from you can use sticks or something I guess. I wouldn't lay them on the ground as I think the rain would melt them faster and the soap might be bad for plants in concentrated doses.

Take care, Penny

I have 12 to 20 deer that visit,also 60 hosta plants. Last year not one of the hostas were lost,my hellebores was new last year and that also was left alone.Waiting to see if it survived our cold winter,I have it in the shade,should it be in more light? My husband has a feeder in our back yard and that is most likely how I have managed to keep them all.I really find alot of useful info on these sites,thanks! Carol

Someone on another forum mentioned buying a cheap laundry basket as a temporary quick 'fence' until the plants get alittle larger.

We also have a deer feeder, so far it's kept them away from my flowers and fruit trees. Corn and hay are cheep compared to replanting. Good luck with whatever you decide.

Yes, they eat hellebores, and monkshood and kalmia and hostas and daylilies and iris and...
So far they haven't touched digitalis, convallaria, echinops, eryngium, daffodils, squills, chionodoxa, snowdrops. In spring it seems they will eat just about anything, perhaps because the fawns do not yet know what will give them stomach aches. We have about 100 deer per square mile and they're looking very prosperous on lawns, hay fields, corn fields. It is illegal to feed deer here and more deer and doe licenses are being issued but aren't being taken up. So far my deer fence is keeping Bambi at bay but out in the woods they have eliminated the native blueberries, azaleas, iris, junipers, young maples and other tree seedlings. They haven't eaten spruce so far so spruce is what is taking over from what used to be white pine and maple.

I do not understand "Bambi lovers" who seem to think that allowing animals to overpopulate, live in constant malnutrition, starve to death at times, and destroy the very environment they are trying to live in is kind and loving. The only means of controlling deer population now that their predators are gone is hunting. Some communities have brought in teams of itinerant bow hunters to control deer populations where gun hunting is not possible. Other communities have tried and have been stopped by PETA or local "Bambi lovers." Destruction of the environment and starvation is cruel and the result of ignorant sentimentality rather than real respect for and love of nature.

George (et all) you don't have to have an unattractive garden to have one that deer don't eat in. Deer can be low to high pressure and what they eat will depend on how many and how much habitat is left. There are TONS of things that you can do to deter them. There are lots of plants that can be planted that they won't eat, but like what was already mentioned a starving deer will taste most anything and possibly eat it! I live in a medium to heavy pressure area depending on the season. In years prior I have lost most every hosta in my yard, along with other items like Rhodies and small leaf hollies. I have learned a few things to help prevent deer damage.

Stinky plants. Anything with a strong odor will be by passed by deer. The strong odor prevents them from being able to smell the air which is one of the ways they stay alert for danager. There are a lot of commerical "odors" that can be bought and sprayed onto plants. There are also recipes that you can make yourself. Milorganite smells awful it is an organic fertilizer and it is a wonderful deer deterent!!! Predator urines are also good placed around your yard in plastic containers in a manner that would mimic their behavior (i.e. marking a tree here and there around your property) There are sachets with blood meal in them (or you can make your own using muslin sachets) blood meal screams danger to a deer and will help send them out of the yard. There are clips that contain a potent combo of garlic and almost rotten egg. These clips you clip right to the stem of the plant in danger and they do work!

In areas of taste there are systemic tablets that you can plant with your new plants. The plant takes the tablet up into its system and when the deer bite it, well it isn't the same sweet flavor they knew and loved. You can make things using garlic, hot pepper and rotten eggs to spray on your plants. Mix it with wilt proof or something similar for extended life. You can also buy premade sprays as well.

I am by no means a bambi lover but I am realistic and as more and more land is developed and more and more apex predators are killed off there is nothing left to hunt the deer to keep the populations in check. I will not give up gardening because of the deer I will just work with every possible item to run them off my property. If you make it hard enough for them by assulting their sense of smell and taste they WILL go elsewhere for their meals. I mean they are like us, they want to eat where they food and atmosphere are nice! There is a book called Deer Proofing your yard and Garden that has a lot of information. The site I linked sells products that work great.

I have a multi layers of denfense for my garden beds and I have a profusion of flowers and plants growing and looking great. It is the first year in four years that I have hostas!

Here is a link that might be useful: Deer Busters