1. No, it's not too late the last frost date for most of PA is in May. For the Poconos it is probably the end of May.

2. There is a post about that on this page if you haven't checked it out already. Deer will eat just about anything if they are hungry. A friend of mine planted a group of plants she didn't care about that she knows deer love on another part of her property to draw the deer away from her garden. She then put bars of Irish Spring soap around her "good" garden where she has lots of Hosta aka deer candy. According to her it works well, and she lives out in the woods where there are loads of deer.

Good luck

An easy way to start is to buy a few large all-season plant pots on sale and just do annuals for awhile. Annuals will flower all summer and do well for you. Petunias are especially good in sunny areas.

Behind the plant pots, if you have them in a row, you could plant three or four tomato plants. You might not get many tomatoes, depending on how thoroughly you prepare the soil, but tomatoes are good soil preparation for other things to come in subsequent years. If you are removing lawn for your flowers, there are sometimes nematodes in the soil that are harmful until the soil has been tilled for a season or two.

Slightly raised flower beds are easier to have success with in PA, possibly because it is so easy for plants to drown in the heavy clay soil in spring and fall.

Peonies seem to do well in PA clay, and you could plant those in a row, too. They flower in late spring, and seem to do OK without a raised bed in many locations. They can also deal with a certain amount of shade.

If you get ambitious, you could then expand the bed forward and plant some summer-flowering perennials. The dark green peony leaves would make a good background for them.

Some perennials live much longer than others--peonies live a very long time, whereas some perennials are really biennials, like foxglove and hollyhocks.

If you have a local garden center, the owner would probably be able to steer you toward the plants that will work the best for you. Even if the deer don't come after your plants, rabbits probably will.

Iris would probably work, as long as you plant them so about half the bulb is out of the ground--they rot easily in clay. You can place small rocks around them then until they take root.

Daylilies work very well, although probably not in front of peonies--they can do quite nicely by themselves, and there are many nice kinds now. Try to get a repeat blooming one, such as Happy Returns, which is a nicer yellow than Stella D'Oro.

Animals will not eat daffodils, which are poisonous, but many will dig up and eat tulip bulbs--squirrels love them. Most spring-flowering bulb plants are planted in bulb form in the fall. Lily bulbs are planted in the spring.

White flowers, and Hostas with some white in their leaves, can be helpful in the late evening, as they can help to mark the location of a walk or pathway.

Hippychick, you've probably figured out by now you weren't too late but maybe too early. The old expression "one warm day does not a summer make" is very applicable this year. The cool rainy patch we're in right now is proof of that.

Are you looking for cut flowers or just for something for quick color? The idea of checking with your local plant grower is good. Try to pick an off-time when shop not too busy, and try to talk with the grower/owner. (Perhaps a temp. clerk might not be as hep to the nuances of good choices.) Annuals, as mentioned are good to start. That gives you a year to study up on perennials. Those are backbone plants which can supplemented with annuals or not -- depends on what you want the garden to be.

Have fun.

You could try planting marigolds, supposedly they are a rabbit and deer deterrent. Probably if they're hungry nothing might work. There are links you can check that might be helpful. I moved from Bethlehem where we had clay soil to Scnecksville where we have well drained soil but lots of bunnies and deer. Check www.edgeofthewoodsnursery.com They are a native plant nursery and they have great info and links.

Hi Hippychick, Rutger's University has a list of plants and rates them by how resistant they are to deer. Maybe this will help guide you.

Mary

Here is a link that might be useful: Deer resistant plants