Many perennials can be encouraged to rebloom by removing fading flowers so that energy is put into production of new flower buds rather than seeds. I’m not good at keeping up with such matters, but I’ve discovered that deer will help to deadhead flowers of an unusual Alstroemeria (Alstroemeria isabellana). Unfortunately, they do not wait for flowers to fade.

The deer don’t seem interested in the strappy foliage of the Alstroemeria. Still, I spray it with a repellent, but then the flowering stalks conveniently rise above the leaves for the deer to nibble. Next year, I’ll keep a small container of repellent handy to spray the flowering stalks.

The Fatsias (Fatsia japonica, above) have not suffered deer damage, but still, I apply the repellent for the winter months when deer are tempted by any evergreen foliage. The curious autumn flowers are too late in the season to be pollinated by the few remaining bees, but ants step in to fill this role (below). With months of cold ahead, I rarely see pollinated flowers becoming seed containing drupes.