Slug Proof/Resistant plants

Following on from the discussion about slugs...how about a thread where we can list plants that don't seem to prove tasty to the slimey little b*****s? Yes, there are some and kick it off I'll list below those I've found to be more or less safe...

Dicentra Spectabile
Aquilegia
Sedum
Solidago
Centaurea
Cranesbill (most of them!)
Astilbe
Achillea
Crocosmia

These are just a few herbaceous perennials that aren't that tasty to them. There are more, just can't think of them right now.

Plus, heavily scented foliage plants, such as Lemon Balm, Sage, some Salvias.

 

Hi Aaron

What a helpful suggestion. In my garden, the slugs have shown no interest in the following:

aruncus sylvestris
japonese anenome
chives
heuchera
alchemilla mollis

 

Thanks for contributing Flinty.

I would also add -
Papaver Orientale (they crawl all over them, but ignore them)
Lemon Balm
Thyme
Mint
Sage
Loosestrife
Solidago
Bergenia
Lamium
Astrantia
Lychnis Coronaria and Macedonica
Coreopsis (can only say for the 'feathery foliage' variety, Moonbeam being one)
Campanula (Persicifolia and the other, mound forming variety)
Fennel
Penstemon

And of course Roses (but then they have their own pests!)

 

Hi,
all the smelly ones seem to stay slug free for me, such as; onions, garlic and leeks

 

What a great thread this is! :gnthb: Thanks for starting Aaron.

Chris

 

Never have any problems with,
Lillies, including Liatris lillies
Dianthus,
Hollyhocks,
marigolds,
Canterbury Bells.
Most of them have their own problems but not the slime brigade.

 

I've added a few more.

How about a list of plants the slugs seem to make a beeline for?:D

 

I have slugs and snails by the army full, despite a huge pond and frogs and toads in residence - so much for them eating the little darlings!!!
Looking out my window now, the things that are in evidence and therefore don't suffer include

Hardy geraniums of all sizes and colours, scabious, huge red poppies, peonies, geum, phygelius (forgive spelling!)
primulas, aquilegia, campanula, many types, all alpines, oleander, bay, heathers, periwinkle, raspberries, al currants, nasturtiums, the radish seedlings seem to be surviving, pasque flowers - and I'll give up at this point
Can someone tell me why we don't have a biological balance whereby the slugs and snails eat the dandelions and couch grass - for some reason they don't seem interested in them???!!!

 

Finding this thread cheered me up greatly, was feeling disheartened by the sight of my decimated petunias and lobelia. Hope there's a thread somewhere here on getting rid of the bleeders too!

 

I have found this year there are more SLUGS on the move (must be the weather we have had).
yesterday i was feeding petunias ,i have (in pots). this morning i took a stroll down for the usual morning inspection of the troops, and 3 of the troops have went Awol :(.All the leaves have gone :( just a wee root stem sticking out the middle of the pots. also for the first time in several years of growing sweetpeas they have been having a feast on them also.
SO NOW WAR HAS BEEN DECLARED ON THE SLUGS music

 

just a small start to Slugs Favourite foods. Petunias, wild ginger,Daffodils,Lilies, Various Bulbs,
Strawberries,lettuce :( just to mention a few :( music .

 

Thanks for this great thread, Aaron. Some of the salvias (salvia elegans and patens, for example) seem to get eaten away to nothing overnight. I still grow these, but in pots which I can babysit in the conservatory during wet spells when slugs and snails are particularly active. However, salvia gregii seems completely immune. Snails curl up under it but they don't eat it. I think the smell of the leaves - usually described as 'blackcurrant', but to me more like 'tomcat' is a deterrent.

As you've mentioned, crocosmias are generally safe from damage, but last year mine did get attacked - although not too badly. I think the answer is that a hungry slug or snail will have a go at more or less anything if it is sufficiently desperate.

To digress a bit from herbaceous perennials, I have the small deciduous shrub 'caryopteris clandonensis' growing in Snail City - a patch of garden which seems particularly attractive to molluscs and where few things are safe - and it is never touched. I think the turpentine-y smell of the leaves puts them off. Lavender in all its forms also seems to be mercifully immune.

The half hardy balm of Gilead, cedronella canariensis, has a very strong medicinal smell which is a bit like cough mixture or Vicks vapour rub! It seems to be unattractive to lots of things, including snails. I think I might experiment with growing it amongst things which are insect or snail prone.

As far as crops go, I have given up trying to grow runner beans. I don't want to use pellets and nothing else really works that well. I'm always amazed at how quickly a sizeable plant can be completely destroyed. Tomatoes seem safe. Again, I imagine it's because of the pongy leaves.

 

Forgot to mention one of my favourite herbaceous perennials, verbena bonariensis. As well as being beautiful, it is highly attractive to bees and butterflies and hated by slugs and snails. Yay!

 

Brilliant, Aaron! I've just acquired a variety of red astilbe and I intend to plant it near a low stone terrace of the garden. Wondered if slugs wouldn't feast on it, but now I'm at peace!
Happy about crocosmia, too!

Please, can you share experience about:
Alstromeria, Abelia grandiflora 'Confetti', Lagerstroemia indica, Gloriosa Rothschildiana, Ismene festalis, Ornithogalum dubium, Ranunculus?

I'll list some more plants RESISTENT to slugs at my place:
- Catharanthus
- Cheiranthus cheiri
- Daylilies
- Erigeron
- Hydrangea Macrophylla varieties
- Impatiens New Guinea
- Mahonia
- Oenothera
- Platycodon Grandiflorus
- Rhododendrons (semi-evergreens, deciduous, Japanese azaleas)
- Rudbeckia
- Shasta Daisy
- Thunbergia alata

Well, I'll think of more...