Nadina domestica- April 2015

I also like the spring new growth Homebird. It is one of the shrubs worth to have. I have 2 .(so far)

Lovely Nandina Klahanie: I have 3(!) and it is so reliable as well as pretty all year.

3 is better than 2 in this case Sheila. It is a great plant. There is a newer variety called "Obsessed" I might look at or cultivar named ‘SEIKA’ which have the new growth more red.

Nice plant. Glad you have something that's deer proof!

This one is definitely deer proof (100%), Feverfew. There are some more: All Irises for example or Pieris japonica and they never touched the smoke bush, So there are plants that are safe in my garden :-)

Glad you have several deer proof plants, Klahanie. They're a menace, aren't they, and because we have just been away, the local Muntjac deer have been munching the tops of things close to the house (even Imperata . . grrr!).

Sorry to hear that Sheila. Yes, they can be nuisance, Many times my heart was broken when seeing the destruction of flower beds.Sometimes they pull out a newly planted specimen from soil and then decide they do not really like it (not at that time anyway) and spit it out. They do not necessary like dahlias but stampede through the bed and break all the plants. It is hard to be a gardener with lots of wildlife animals around. Many times my heart was broken in the destruction of flower beds. But....I am slowly learning how to keep all of us happy. Glad to see you back Sheila. Hope you had a wonderful time.

They used to be a bay area staple. You don't see them nearly as much anymore. Garden trends come and go- like styles. Disco shirts will be back.

Around here Klahanie- I'm seeing more Rhododendrons in bloom then I thought we had. Old ones in some shade can take some drought,and that's where I see them planted 5-6' tall or so.

If they are in the shade than it is OK to water them less often but they have very shallow roots and they cannot dry out. Rhododendrons are quite finicky. It says that they die either from too much water or too little water. I would think they could grow nicely around San Francisco.