Flowers Rabbits Won't Eat

Why rabbits skip certain flowers

Rabbits avoid flowers for three reasons: strong scent, toxic compounds, or unpleasant texture. Plants with any of these traits are reliably less damaged in high-rabbit-pressure gardens.

Eastern cottontail rabbits eat roughly 1 pound of plant material per day, per Penn State Extension data. They’re opportunistic feeders that prefer tender young growth and avoid unpleasant sensory experiences. A yard where alternative food is available — lawn grass, dandelions, clover — experiences less flower damage than a yard that offers only cultivated plants.

Understanding their avoidance triggers helps you design around them:

• Scent: aromatic oils in lavender, catmint, and marigolds irritate rabbits’ sensitive noses
• Toxicity: rabbits appear to instinctively avoid plants toxic to them — foxglove, daffodils, and bleeding heart are rarely touched
• Texture: fuzzy, prickly, or waxy leaves are unappealing — lamb’s ear, globe thistle, and ornamental grasses get little damage

No plant is 100% rabbit-proof. A starving rabbit will eat almost anything. But choosing plants from this list dramatically reduces damage compared to rabbit favorites like hostas, impatiens, pansies, and tulips.

Reliable rabbit-resistant flowers by category

Strongly scented (most reliable)

Lavender (Lavandula) — Zones 5–9. One of the most consistently rabbit-resistant plants in US gardens. The aromatic oils that make it attractive to humans are repellent to rabbits. Grows in poor soil, full sun. See lavender companion plants for placement ideas.

Catmint (Nepeta) — Zones 3–8. Low-growing, blue-flowered, and nearly never browsed by rabbits. The nepetalactone compounds that attract cats are also deterrent to rabbits. Extremely drought tolerant once established.

Salvia (Salvia) — Zones 4–10 depending on species. Annual and perennial salvias are uniformly rabbit-resistant. Strong aromatic foliage and tough stems. Excellent for full-sun beds. See salvia care for species selection.

Marigolds (Tagetes) — Annual. The terpene compounds in marigold foliage and roots deter not just rabbits but also nematodes. Border plantings create a mild deterrent effect for neighboring plants.

Russian sage (Perovskia) — Zones 3–9. Tall, silver-stemmed, intensely aromatic perennial. Rabbits and deer consistently avoid it. Extremely heat and drought tolerant once established. See Russian sage guide.

Toxic to rabbits (highly reliable)

Foxglove (Digitalis) — Zones 4–9. The cardiac glycosides in foxglove are toxic to rabbits; they instinctively avoid it. Biennial or short-lived perennial with tall flower spikes.

Daffodils (Narcissus) — Zones 3–8. Bulbs contain lycorine — toxic to rabbits, deer, squirrels, and voles. Plant daffodils as borders around vulnerable spring bulb beds; rabbits won’t cross a daffodil barrier to reach tulips.

Bleeding heart (Lamprocapnos) — Zones 3–9. Contains isoquinoline alkaloids toxic to rabbits. Shade-tolerant perennial with distinctive arched stems and pendant flowers.

Monkshood (Aconitum) — Zones 3–7. One of the most toxic garden plants; rabbits avoid it entirely. Handle with gloves — toxic to humans through skin contact as well.

Rough texture (moderately reliable)

Lamb’s ear (Stachys) — Zones 4–8. Velvety, densely furry leaves that rabbits find unpleasant to eat. Spreads readily as groundcover. See lamb’s ear guide.

Globe thistle (Echinops) — Zones 3–9. Spiky ball-shaped flowers on prickly stems. Rabbits leave this alone almost universally.

Ornamental grasses — Most Zones 4–9. Rabbits rarely eat established ornamental grasses. The silica-reinforced leaf blades are uncomfortable to chew.

Rabbit-resistant flowers by garden style

Cottage garden

Plant these rabbit-resistant cottage staples in place of rabbit-loved alternatives:

Pollinator garden

Rabbit-resistant plants that also support pollinators:

• Coneflower (Echinacea) — Zones 3–9, avoided by rabbits, loved by bees and goldfinches
• Catmint — exceptional bee plant, reliably rabbit-resistant
• Russian sage — attracts bees and butterflies; never browsed
• Anise hyssop (Agastache) — strongly aromatic, pollinators love it, rabbits avoid it

Full sun perennial bed

For consistent rabbit resistance in a sunny perennial border:

• Lavender (front/middle)
• Salvia (middle)
• Russian sage (back)
• Coneflower (middle)
• Catmint (edge/spill)

This combination covers the full height range of a perennial bed and provides bloom from May through September.

Comparison table: rabbit resistance by common garden flowers

Physical protection for vulnerable plants

Plant selection reduces damage but doesn’t eliminate it. For new transplants — especially in the first 4–6 weeks when tissue is most tender — physical barriers work better than plant choice alone.

Chicken wire cloches: Cut 18-inch sections of 1-inch chicken wire, bend into cylinders, and place over new plantings. Remove when plants are established (6+ inches tall and woody at the base).

Hardware cloth rings: 1/4-inch mesh hardware cloth is more durable than chicken wire and also excludes voles, which tunnel under soil surface. Bend into 12-inch-diameter rings for individual plants.

Row cover: Floating row cover (Reemay) draped over new bed plantings and secured with stakes keeps rabbits out during the most vulnerable early-growth period.

For perennial beds, once plants are 2–3 years established and woody at the crown, physical protection is rarely needed.

Garden design strategy: minimize damage, maximize beauty

The most effective rabbit-resistant garden combines three layers:

1. Perimeter deterrents: strongly scented plants at the garden edge (lavender, catmint, marigold border) create a sensory barrier
2. Interior rabbit-resistant selections: fill beds primarily with plants from the reliable categories above
3. Physical protection: use for any rabbit-attractive plants you love and can’t give up

Rabbits follow paths of least resistance. A yard that consistently presents unpleasant sensory experiences at every entry point trains them to look elsewhere.