Deer Repellent

• False blue indigo, also known as rattleweed, wild indigo and Baptisia australis, contains bitter-tasting alkaloids that can repel deer. Both the University of Georgia and Rutgers University rate false blue indigo among plants rarely damaged or browsed by deer.
  
  

Features

• False blue indigo, a perennial, can grow up to 4 feet tall. The plant produces 10- to 12-inch long spikes of blue flowers and black, rattling seed pods that the University of Illinois Extension describes as dramatic. Foliage is blue-green and mounding.
  
  

Habitat

• False indigo prefers full sun, but can also grow in partial shade. This hardy plant is drought-resistant and can tolerate a range of soils. A long-lived perennial, false blue indigo should be divided every three to four years.