Rabbit-Proof Perennials That Naturally Keep Peter Rabbit Out of the Garden

Cottontail rabbits were made famous by English author-illustrator Beatrix Potter (July 28, 1866 - December 22, 1943) in her now classic children's story, The Tale of Peter Rabbit. The tale concerns the misadventures of young Peter as he disobeys his mother's prohibition against visiting Mr. McGregor's garden, where his father fatally ended up in one of Mrs. McGregor's pies.

Listening to their mother, Peter's siblings, Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail, scamper to the lane where luscious blackberries (genus Rubus, family Rosaceae) abound.

On the other hand, Peter is beguiled by the tempting produce in Mr. McGregor's garden. Turning his back on the easy availability of wild blackberries, Peter prefers to raid Mr. McGregor's garden for French beans (Phaseolus vulgaris), lettuce (Lactuca sativa), and radishes (Raphanus sativus). While searching for parsley (Petroselinum crispum), Peter encounters the old gardener and has to use his ingenuity and agility in order to escape capture.

A realistic aspect of this beloved tale is the negative interaction that occurs between gardeners and rabbits in the garden environment. Gardens invariably contain plants that are enticing to rabbits. If the garden is accessible, cottontails in the vicinity are irresistibly drawn to chomp, graze, and sample the wondrous array of edibles that is unmatched generally in uncultivated fields, meadows, and woodlands. Everything is laid out so nicely and bountifully!

Mr. McGregor's garden was not rabbit-proof. Peter entered and exited the forbidden premises by squeezing under an easily surmountable barrier, the garden gate.

Often the best enclosure for a garden frequented by rabbits is a fence, which is a humane solution to the problem. A two-foot high fence of chicken wire that has support posts every six to eight feet serves as an effective barrier against invader rabbits. It is imperative, however, to secure the wire to the ground. Otherwise, rabbits, which are agile and acrobatic, will squeeze or burrow their way
underneath, just as Peter did.

Some gardens -- especially those such as the Plant A Row for the Hungry garden at the Chesapeake Bay Field Office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Annapolis, Maryland -- are confined to a location where fences are the only viable, humane solution for preventing wildlife invasions. Also, some gardeners prefer to surround their planting endeavors with fences, which may set a tone with their rustic or primitive or elaborate design.

Nevertheless, for those gardens that are not located in restricted space, another solution is to plant perennials that repel rabbits. Enclosing a garden with the natural barrier of rabbit-resistant perennials successfully deters the would-be invaders.

These furry mammals engage in amazing acrobatic leaps for play and for escape but they do not indulge in hurdles over plants that are repugnant to their sensitivities. Rabbits are discouraged by a continuous barrier of undesirable foliage. When confronted with such an obstacle, rabbits do not trespass further but instead scamper away from the distasteful area. Thus end, with a natural, "green" strategy, close, intensely negative encounters with marauding wild rabbits.

The following perennials (Latin: per, "through" + annus, "year"), which are plants with a lifespan of more than two years, have been selected for both attractiveness and reliability. Also various hardiness zones are represented.

Also noted are perennials that successfully repel two other garden invaders:

• Slugs (class Gastropoda);
• White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus).

Paeonia officinalis, commonly known as common peony or European peony or tree peony, is a European native. The common peony reaches a height of 15 to 24 inches (38 to 60 centimeters), with a spread of 24 inches (60 centimeters).

Glossy, dark leaves frame large, magenta to deep red flowers with ruffled petals in early summer.

While peonies effectively ward off white-tailed deer, they just as effectively attract scores of butterflies, including:

• Little wood satyr (Megisto cymela);
• Skippers, such as Peck's skipper (Polites peckius), the silver-spotted (Epargyreus clarus), and the tawny-edged (Polites themistocles);
• Spicebush swallowtail (Papilio troilus).

Three cultivars of Paeonia officinalis received the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit (AGM) in 1993:

• 'Anemoniflora Rosea,'
• 'Rosea Plena,' and
• 'Rubra Plena.'

Caution should be exercised against ingestion, as all parts of Paeonia plant may provoke mild stomach upsets.

Helleborus niger, commonly known as Christmas rose or black hellebore, is a winter-to-spring flowering native from the Alps in southern Germany to northern Italy. Helleborus niger reaches a height of 12 inches (30 centimeters), with a spread of 12 to 20 inches (30 to 50 centimeters).

Dark green, leathery, serrated leaves have 5 to 9 broad leaflets and grow at the base of the sturdy stem.

One large flower per stalk opens in whiteness but acquires pink or deep red-pink tints with age.

Hellebores have the added benefit of banning deer and slugs from the garden.

Caution should be exercised, as:

• contact with Helleborus sap may cause skin irritations;
• ingestion of any part of Helleborus plants may provoke severe discomfort. 

Convallaria majalis, commonly known as European lily of the valley, is native to Eurasia. Convallaria majalis reaches a height of 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters), with a spread of 12 to 40 inches (30 to 100 centimeters).

Large leaves are lance-shaped.

Flowers open daintily and fragrantly as white, bell-shaped flowers in early spring.

Berries are scarlet.

Convallaria majalis also is deer-resistant.

Convallaria majalis received the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit (AGM) in 1993.

Caution should be exercised, as ingestion of Convallaria majalis seeds may provoke mild stomach upsets.

Pulmonaria saccharata, commonly known as Jerusalem sage or Bethlehem sage or lungwort, is native to northern Italy. Pulmonaria saccharata reaches a height of 12 to 16 inches (30 to 40 centimeters), with a spread of 16 to 32 inches (40 to 80 centimeters).

Lance-shaped leaves are speckled in silver.

Five-petaled flowers open as white or shades of mauve to purple or purple-red in spring.

Fruits are inconspicuous, brown nutlets that easily self-seed, soon producing little seedlings at the base of the plant.

Pulmonaria saccharata is deer-resistant.

Pulmonaria saccharata 'Argentea Group' received the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit (AGM) in 1993.

Alchemilla mollis, commonly known as lady's mantle, is a soft-stemmed perennial that is a Eurasian native. Originally found from Romania to Greece and Iran, lady's mantle reaches a height of 12 to 20 inches (30 to 50 centimeters), with a spread of 12 to 32 inches (30 to 80 centimeters).

Grey green, downy leaves are shaped like hands.

Flowers open in yellow-green clusters in summer.

Alchemilla mollis is deer-resistant.

Alchemilla mollis received the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit (AGM) in 1993.

Lamium maculatum, commonly known as spotted dead-nettle or purple dragon, is a native of the Palearctic region, which includes Europe, western Asia, and North Africa.

Spotted dead-nettle reaches a height of 6 to 20 inches (15 to 50 centimeters) with a spread of 24 to 60 inches (60 to 150 centimeters).

Pinkish red to purple or rare white flowers open dramatically against pointed, white-centered leaves in summer.

Lamium maculatum is disagreeable to deer.

Trollius europeaus, commonly known as common globeflower or European globeflower, is native to Europe, northern Asia, and far northern North America. Trollius europaeus reaches a height of 24 inches (60 centimeters), with a spread of 18 inches (45  centimeters).

Leaves, with 3 to 5 lobes, are toothed.

Flowers open as lemon yellow globes in late spring to early summer.

Euphorbia griffithii, commonly known as Griffith's spurge, originates in the Himalayas ("Abode of snow"), the spectacular mountain range that separates the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan plateau. Griffith's spurge has an equiproportional shape, with a height and a spread of 36 inches (90 centimeters).

Up to 5 inches (12 centimeters) in length, narrow leaves emerge as dark green with copper to pink tints and change brilliant orange or red in autumn.

Clusters of fiery orange flowerheads open in summer.

Drought-resistant Griffith's spurge has the additional attraction of exiling deer and slugs from the garden.

Euphorbia griffithii 'Dixter,' named for Great Dixter, an arts and crafts style garden in East Sussex made famous by British gardener Christopher Hamilton Lloyd (March 2, 1921 – January 27, 2006),  received the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit (AGM) in 1993.

Caution should be exercised, as:

• contact with Euphorbia's milky sap may cause skin irritations;
• ingestion of any part of Euphorbia plant may provoke severe discomfort.

Astilbe x crispa 'Perkeo' is a hybrid of uncertain origin cultivated by renowned Astilbe breeder Adalbert Georg Arends (September 21 1863 - March 5 1952) of Ronsdorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, west central Germany. 'Perkeo' is commonly known as Perkeo dwarf astilbe or Perkeo hybrid astilbe or Peter Pan dwarf astilbe or Peter Pan hybrid astilbe.

'Perkeo' has an equiproportional shape with a height and a spread of 8 to 12 inches (20 to 30 centimeters). Leaves, which have broad, deeply cut leaflets, are bronze as young foliage.

Flowers open in deep pink plumes.

Astilbes also favor gardeners by shooing away white-tailed deer.

'Perkeo' was honored with the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit (AGM) in 1993.

Bergenia stracheyi, commonly known as Chinese bergenia, originates in  Afghanistan and Tibet.

Bergenia stracheyi reaches a height of 12 inches (30 centimeters), with a spread of 16 to 24 inches (40 to 60 centimeters).

Rosettes of semi-evergreen,serrated, oval leaves change to deep red in winter.

Bell-shaped flowers open fragrantly in dense, creamy clusters that age into pink.

Bergenia offers the additional benefit of excluding slugs and whitetails from the garden.

Tradescantia virginiana, commonly known as spiderwort or Virginia spiderwort, is a New World plant that is native to the eastern United States, where it extends westwards from the east coast through Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana. Virginia spiderwort is not native to
Florida or Wisconsin. A disjunct, or separate, geographic population occurs in California. Virginia spiderwort has been successfully introduced into the province of Ontario in east-central Canada.

Virginia spiderwort reaches a height of 12 to 20 inches (30 to 50 centimeters), with a spread of 20 to 48 inches (50 to 120 centimeters).

Leaves are narrow and grass-like.

Three-petaled flowers open in violet-blue to purple clusters from late spring to mid-summer.

Caution should be exercised, as contact with Tradescantia's foliage may cause skin irritations.

Agapanthus africanus, which also has the scientific synonym of Agapanthus umbellatus, is commonly known as African lily or blue African lily or lily-of-the-Nile.

This native of South Africa's Western Cape in the onion family (Alliaceae) reaches a height of 18 to 24 inches (45 to 60 centimeters), with a spread of 24 to 36 inches (60 to 90 centimeters).

Evergreen, strap-shaped leaves measure 12 to 15 inches (30 to 38 centimeters) in length.

Atop stems of 24 inches (60 centimeters) in length, flowers open as long, tubular, purple-blue flowers from late summer through early autumn.

Agapanthus africanus is deer-resistant.

Surrounding a garden with perennials that are disagreeable to rabbits is a natural solution to the problem of unwelcome garden guests. As an added benefit, many of these perennials exclude other pests as well, such as slugs or white-tailed deer.

Another natural measure that I observe is to encourage rabbits away from my lawn and garden by leaving an area of my property as uncultivated land. Rabbits, which have been naturally exiled from my garden, delight in occupying their attention with:

• Blackberries;
• Seedlings;
• Other foliage that abound there.

Gardeners welcome a garden that is undisturbed by uninvited guests. Enclosing a garden with rabbit-proof perennials enhances a garden's visual appeal with a spectrum of floral colors. Some of these perennials emit fragrances, which thus increase the sensory enjoyment of the garden's offerings.

At the end of the day, novice and inveterate gardeners alike are able to rest in confidence and peace that their gardens are growing according to plan.

This article is dedicated to the artistry of Beatrix Potter (July 28, 1866-December 22, 1943), with special thanks for The Tale of Peter Rabbit. Her legacy of prescient perceptivity to natural environments continues to inspire admirers worldwide.

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Leighton Moss RSPB (Royal Society for Protection of Birds) Reserve, Lancashire, northwestern England: Gidzy, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/gidzy/3614942864/

gathering blackberries: Public Domain, via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/ost-english--peter-rabbit-by-beatrix-potter/page/n7/mode/1up

The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1916), page 15; illustration by Virginia Albert: Public Domain, via Project Gutenberg @ https://www.gutenberg.org/files/14304/14304-h/14304-h.htm; via Wikisource @ https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Tale_of_Peter_Rabbit_(1916)

Altemus' Wee Books for Wee Folks: The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1904), page 39: Public Domain, Google-digitized, via HathiTrust @ http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015083455223?urlappend=%3Bseq=41

Petrified Forest National Park, northwestern Arizona: Marge Post/NPS - Park Ranger (Petrified Forest Ranger), CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Desert_cottontail_rabbit_in_Petrified_Forest_National_Park.jpg

Sheridan-Kalorama neighborhood, California Street NW, Washington DC: Robert Lyle Bolton (RLBolton), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/robertlylebolton/8091933621/

Wilder Kaiser mountain chain, Tyrol, western Austria: Robert Hundsdorfer, CC BY-SA 2.0 DE, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Helleborus_niger_Kaiser.jpg

Karlsruhe, Baden- Württemberg, southwest Germany: H. Zell, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Convallaria_majalis_0002.JPG

University Botanical Garden, Oslo, southeast Norway: Jan Sølve Borlaug (jansolve), CC BY-SA 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/37942794@N02/3497086606/

Corley, Warwickshire, central England: Amanda Slater (amandabhslater), CC BY-SA 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/pikerslanefarm/3621762573/

Lamium maculatum is also known as purple dragon.: ArtMechanic, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gefleckte_Taubnessel.jpg

Anchor Point, Kenai Peninsula, south central Alaska: Emma Forsberg (echoforsberg), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/echoforsberg/3605843725/

Specis name griffithii honors British naturalist William Griffith (March 4, 1810-February 9, 1845).: peganum, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/peganum/5669029323/

2009 RHS Flower Show Tatton Park, Cheshire, northwestern England: Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net), CC BY-SA-4.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Astilbe_crispa_'Perkeo'.jpg

Tama Hills, southwestern Tokyo: Sphl, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bergenia_stracheyi_4.jpg

Genus name honors father-son English naturalists John Tradescant the Elder (c1570s–1638) and the Younger (1608-1662).: TeunSpaans, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eendagsbloem_R0019985.JPG

Lavras, southern Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil: Denis Conrado, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Agapanthus_africanus.jpg

Crescent Beach State Park, Cape Elizabeth, Cumberland County, southern Maine: Katherine Whittemore/USFWS Northeast Region, Public Domain, via USFWS National Digital Library @ https://digitalmedia.fws.gov/digital/collection/natdiglib/id/13212/

The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1916), page 35; illustration by Virginia Albert: Public Domain, via Project Gutenberg @ https://www.gutenberg.org/files/14304/14304-h/14304-h.htm; via Wikisoure @ https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Tale_of_Peter_Rabbit_(1916)

ca. 1876 photo taken by Rupert Potter (1832-May 8, 1914): Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Potter_and_her_mother_Helen_Leech_Potter.JPG

Redmond, northwestern Washington: Bob Jenkins (bob_jenkins), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/48380660@N04/4529926759

jumping Eastern cottontail: Hardyplants at English Wikipedia, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:JumpingRabbit.JPG

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