If you’re like most gardeners, you probably have a few sunflowers your yard. Sunflowers are beautiful flowers that add a touch of elegance to any garden. But do deer eat sunflowers?
The answer is yes – deer will eat the seeds, blooms, buds, leaves, and even the stems of sunflowers. Deer are attracted to sunflowers because they’re a great source of nutrition.
Considering that a single deer can eat several pounds of plants each day, you can see how deer eating sunflowers can really do some serious damage to your garden!
In this article, we’ll discuss how to stop deer from eating your sunflowers, and keep them healthy and beautiful all season long.
Why Do Deer Eat Sunflowers?
As we covered, deer will eat every part of a sunflower (stem, leaves, seeds, and all) when they’ve got the chance.
But why do they do this?
Deer like lush plants that are well-watered and fertilized, and sunflowers check every box.
Deer can do some serious damage to a large amount of sunflower plants single sitting if they’re hungry enough!
This was confirmed in a 1999 study on deer plant eating habits by Cornell University.
Flowers like sunflowers contain water, sugar, protein, and nutrients, which makes them an ideal food source for deer.
And don’t think that your newer sunflower plants are safe either: deer actually prefer new growth because they’re more tender.
Additionally, deer will consume a wide variety of foods like sunflowers based on opportunity.
Sunflowers attract deer because they are planted in the ground or in pots, so they’re easy to access.
In fact, some folks specifically choose to plant sunflowers as part of their food plots to attract deer.
If you’re not convinced, leave some potted sunflowers out or plant some, and wait to see what happens!
How To Stop Deer From Eating My Sunflowers
There are a few things to keep in mind when you’re protecting your sunflowers from hungry deer: their habits, your scent, repellent options, and when you plant them.
Deer will eat nearly anything if they’re hungry enough, so your main goal is making your garden as least inviting to deer as possible.
Check out our guide on how to keep deer from eating plants where we cover 25 quick and easy tips for keeping hungry deer out of your garden.
What Kinds Of Sunflowers Do Deer Eat?
Deer will eat all kinds of sunflowers, including skyscraper, sunforest, American Giant, Russian Mammoth, Schewinitz’s sunflower, dwarf, sundance kid, little becka, pacino, suntastic yellow, sunny smile, terracotta, earthwalker, Ms. Mars, chianti, and moulin rouge.
Whatever kind of sunflowers you have, you’re well advised to take precautions to keep deer from eating them!
Will My Sunflowers Grow Back After Deer Eat Them?
If a deer eats the stem to where it’s completely removed from the root, the sunflower will not grow back.
If you have some fibers still attached but the flower is bent, you can use plant wrapping tape and a thin stick to support the sunflower while it mends.
If deer happen to munch down your sunflowers, continue regular care of your plants including watering and fertilizer as necessary until they’re back to good health.
Are Sunflowers Good For Deer?
Yes, sunflowers are very healthy for deer to eat.
In addition to being a great source of protein, deer eating sunflowers provides them with the following vitamins and minerals:
- Potassium
- Calcium
- Magnesium
- Zinc
These vitamins and minerals provide deer with many benefits.
Potassium is great for deer because it helps maintain good pH balance and aid in proper digestion.
Deer need calcium for bone, teeth, and antler growth and health as well as other bodily functions like milk production and metabolism.
Magnesium helps with antler growth, increasing body weight, and has immune system benefits for deer.
A 2007 study showed that zinc can assist in growing larger antler sizes in white-tailed deer.
Fat-Soluble Vitamins in sunflowers For Deer
Vitamins A, D, E, K, and calcium are fat-soluble, so they can be stored in the deer’s fat and liver to be used later as needed.
This means that calcium content from deer eating sunflowers can be “stored up” for later use, which is highly beneficial.
Water-Soluble Vitamins In sunflowers For Deer
Vitamin C, B Vitamins, niacin, folic acid, and potassium are all water-soluble, which means they cannot be stored, so they must be replaced continually.
So a deer that eats sunflowers for the potassium content must continue to consume foods that contain these necessary vitamins to stay healthy.
Do Deer Eat Sunflowers? Wrapping Things Up
So, do deer eat sunflowers?
The answer is yes!
Deer will eat the entire rose bush if they can, and they benefit from the vitamins and minerals found in these flowers.
Have any observations to add to the discussion? Be sure to let us know in the comments below.
Check our our other helpful wildlife guides while you’re here:
