Do Deer Eat Black Eyed Susans?
Rarely, and rarely badly. Black-eyed Susan sits near the top of the deer resistant list because its leaves are coarse, stiff and covered in bristly hairs, which is exactly the mouth feel a browsing deer avoids. So how often do deer eat black eyed Susans in a real yard? Mostly in two situations: early spring, when the new rosette growth is still soft, and a dry late summer when easier food has burned off.
That makes Rudbeckia one of the genuinely safe bets for a deer-visited border, and one of the few plants where the nursery tag is telling the truth. It is not deer proof, because almost nothing is, but you can plant it without building anything around it.
Black-eyed Susans are hardy from zone 3 to zone 9. Check your zone free with our planting zones lookup, then use the risk tables below to place them.
Updated September 2026
When Do Deer Eat Black Eyed Susans, and What Do They Take
Damage happens in a narrow set of conditions. Here is what it looks like when it does.
| Plant part | Browse risk | When it happens |
|---|---|---|
| Spring rosette leaves | Low to moderate | April and early May, before the hairs stiffen |
| Mature summer leaves | Very low | Rarely touched at all |
| Flower buds | Low | Late June to July in high pressure yards |
| Open flowers | Low to moderate | Peak bloom, if the herd is desperate |
| Seed heads | Very low | Left standing all winter in most yards |
| Whole plant grazed down | Rare | Drought years with heavy herd pressure |
Spring is the window that matters. New Rudbeckia growth in April is soft, low to the ground, and one of the first green things available after a long winter. The hairs that protect the plant all summer have not stiffened yet. If you ever lose black-eyed Susans to deer, this is almost always when.
Drought changes the math. Deer eat what is available, and a bad August pushes them onto plants they normally walk past. Every deer resistant list assumes normal food supply. In a drought year the whole list shifts down a notch.
Fawns test everything. Young deer sample plants their mothers skip. A bed browsed once in June by a fawn and never again is a common pattern, and it is not worth changing your planting over.
Why Deer Skip Rudbeckia Most of the Time
Deer make grazing decisions with their nose and their mouth, in that order. Black-eyed Susan fails both tests.
Texture is the main defense. The leaves and stems carry dense, stiff hairs. To a soft-mouthed browser that feels like eating sandpaper. Lamb's ear, dusty miller and yarrow use the same strategy, and all four show up on the same lists.
There is no strong scent reward. Deer are drawn to soft, sweet, high-moisture tissue: hosta leaves, daylily buds, tulip flowers, lily buds. Rudbeckia foliage is dry and coarse and offers nothing worth the effort.
The flowers sit above the good stuff. Ray petals are thin and papery and the central cone is hard and seedy. Compare that to a coneflower bud, which is a fat, soft, high-nitrogen package. That single difference explains why deer take coneflower buds and skip black-eyed Susan in the same bed, and it is the reason our guide on whether deer eat coneflowers tells a different story.
Which Rudbeckia Species You Planted Matters
They are not all equally tough. This is the detail most articles leave out, and it explains conflicting reports from two gardeners in the same neighborhood.
| Species | Common name | Habit | Leaf texture | Browse risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R. fulgida ('Goldsturm') | Orange coneflower | Perennial, zone 3-9 | Very coarse, bristly | Lowest |
| R. hirta | Black-eyed Susan | Annual or short-lived | Soft, hairy but thinner | Moderate |
| R. laciniata | Cutleaf coneflower | Tall perennial | Smoother, thinner leaves | Moderate |
| R. triloba | Browneyed Susan | Biennial, self-sowing | Thin, less bristly | Moderate |
| R. maxima | Great coneflower | Perennial, big blue leaves | Smooth, waxy | Higher |
'Goldsturm' is the safe default. It is the plant most people mean by black-eyed Susan, it is a true perennial, and its leaves are the coarsest of the group. If deer are your main concern, plant this one.
Big-box annual Rudbeckia is the risky one. The showy multicolored R. hirta series sold in six packs in spring have been bred for flower size, and they carry softer, thinner foliage. Those get browsed noticeably more than 'Goldsturm' does.
Smooth-leaved species are the exception to the rule. R. maxima has big waxy blue-green leaves with none of the bristle. It is a striking plant and it is the one to protect if you grow it.
How to Tell Deer Damage From Everything Else
Half the reports of deer eating black-eyed Susan are something else. Check the evidence before you buy repellent.
| Culprit | What you see | Height of damage |
|---|---|---|
| Deer | Torn, ragged, shredded stem ends. Tops and buds gone | 2 to 5 ft |
| Rabbit | Clean 45 degree cut like pruners. Whole young shoots gone | Under 18 in |
| Groundhog | Plants flattened, stems chewed, a burrow nearby | Under 24 in |
| Slugs | Ragged holes in the middle of leaves, silver trails | Ground level |
| Septoria leaf spot | Dark spots that spread and brown the lower leaves | Bottom up |
| Powdery mildew | White dusty film on leaves in late summer | Whole plant |
Deer have no upper front teeth, so they tear rather than cut. Run your fingers over the damaged stem end. Ragged and stringy is deer, a clean angled cut is rabbit.
Leaf disease fools people constantly. Rudbeckia is prone to septoria leaf spot, which browns and drops the lower leaves in a wet summer, and to powdery mildew in crowded plantings. Both look like something ate the plant from the bottom. Neither is an animal. The fix is spacing and airflow, and our guide on powdery mildew treatment covers the rest.
Worked Example: Placing Black-Eyed Susans in a Deer-Visited Border
Here is how to use them properly in a 25 foot sunny border in zone 6 that gets nightly deer traffic.
| Position | Plants | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Outer edge, facing the deer path | Catmint, Russian sage, lavender | Strong aromatic scent, the first thing a nose hits |
| Second row | Black-eyed Susan 'Goldsturm', yarrow | Coarse texture, almost never browsed |
| Middle | Bearded iris, salvia, agastache | Bitter or aromatic, structural |
| Back row, sheltered | Coneflower, phlox | Higher risk, protected by everything in front |
| Anything highly browsed | Lilies, tulips, hosta | Keep them out, or fence and spray them |
The idea is layered defense by scent and texture. Deer make their decision from a few feet away, and a wall of aromatic and bristly plants often means they never step into the bed to find the tastier things behind it.
Numbers for that border. 'Goldsturm' spreads to about 18 to 24 inches, so a 25 foot row planted at 20 inch spacing takes about 15 plants for a solid drift. Give them 6 or more hours of sun and roughly an inch of water a week in the first season, then they mostly look after themselves. Our tool guide on plant spacing works out the counts for any bed size.
Skip the repellent unless you see damage. Spraying a plant deer already avoid is wasted effort. Save the sprays for the Asiatic lilies deer resistant question, which is where the real losses happen, and for tulips and hostas.
If Deer Do Browse Yours, Here Is What to Do
Some yards have enough pressure that even Rudbeckia gets sampled. The response is small and seasonal.
- Protect April, not July. One repellent application as new growth appears and one three weeks later covers the vulnerable window. Summer sprays are usually unnecessary.
- Use an odor-based repellent. Egg-solid products work by smell, so deer never have to taste the plant. Rotate two products if you spray more than twice a season.
- Cut the damage back cleanly. Trim torn stems just above a leaf node. Rudbeckia branches readily and usually blooms anyway, just a little later.
- Do not fertilize heavily after browsing. Extra nitrogen produces the soft, lush growth deer actually want. Rudbeckia performs better in lean soil.
- Leave the seed heads standing over winter. They feed goldfinches, they self sow, and deer ignore them entirely.
Rabbit pressure needs a different answer. A ring of chicken wire around clumps for the first month of spring growth solves it, and it also protects the crown over the first winter.
Growing Black-Eyed Susans So They Earn Their Space
They are close to a no-maintenance plant when sited correctly.
Sun. Six or more hours. In shade they stretch, flop and mildew.
Soil. Average to lean, well drained. Rich soil produces floppy growth and fewer flowers.
Spacing. 18 to 24 inches apart for 'Goldsturm'. Crowding is the main cause of mildew.
Water. About an inch a week the first season while they root, then they handle drought well.
Deadheading. Optional. Deadheading extends bloom, leaving seed heads feeds birds and gives you volunteer seedlings. Most people do half and half.
Division. Every three to four years in spring when the center of the clump thins out.
Pollinators. Rudbeckia is one of the most reliable nectar and pollen plants for late summer bees and butterflies, and the winter seed heads carry goldfinches through. Our guide on how to attract pollinators has the rest of the sequence.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is black-eyed Susan deer resistant?
Yes, it is one of the more reliably deer resistant perennials, thanks to coarse bristly leaves that deer dislike the feel of. Browsing does happen on soft spring growth and in drought years, so treat it as strongly resistant rather than deer proof. Our list of deer resistant perennials ranks it against the alternatives.
Do deer eat black-eyed Susan flowers?
Occasionally, in yards with heavy deer traffic or during a dry summer, but far less often than they take coneflower buds or lily buds. The petals are thin and the central cone is hard and seedy, so there is little reward. Damage usually looks like a few flowers missing, not a stripped bed.
Will black-eyed Susans grow back if deer eat them?
Almost always. Rudbeckia branches from the leaf nodes below the damage, so a browsed plant usually pushes side shoots and blooms a couple of weeks later than it would have. Trim the torn stems back to a node and skip the fertilizer, since soft new growth is what invites another visit.
Do rabbits eat black-eyed Susans?
More often than deer do, and they focus on young spring shoots close to the ground. The tell is a clean 45 degree cut within about 18 inches of the soil. A ring of chicken wire around new plants for the first month of spring growth handles it.
Which is more deer resistant, black-eyed Susan or coneflower?
Black-eyed Susan, clearly. Both have coarse leaves deer skip, but coneflower produces fat, soft flower buds that deer take regularly in July, while Rudbeckia's buds are smaller and less appealing. For a high-pressure yard, plant black-eyed Susan and keep coneflower behind it.
Why are my black-eyed Susan leaves turning brown from the bottom?
That is usually septoria leaf spot, a fungal disease that starts as dark spots on the lowest leaves in wet weather and works upward. It is cosmetic and does not kill the plant. Improve spacing and airflow, water at the soil rather than overhead, and clear the old foliage in fall.
Are black-eyed Susans toxic to deer or pets?
They are not considered seriously toxic, which is worth knowing because their protection is physical rather than chemical. Deer avoid the texture, not a poison. That also means a hungry enough deer in a bad year can eat them without any consequence, unlike daffodils, which are genuinely toxic and therefore never touched.
What can I plant with black-eyed Susans in a deer area?
Pair them with catmint, Russian sage, salvia, yarrow, lavender, agastache and ornamental grasses. All of those are aromatic or coarse, they bloom in overlapping windows, and together they form a scent barrier that keeps deer from stepping into the bed at all. Our roundup of deer resistant flowers has the full planting list.
