CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- I live in a house full of deer hunters. This may turn off some of my readers, but c'mon, it's West Virginia. And all of the meat that we don't eat goes to good use -- it's given to friends and to programs that feed the less fortunate.

All of the deer talk and watching the herd gallop across my front lawn for the past few weeks reminded me to survey the damage from those white-tailed wonders. Here are a couple of the plants that are not only surviving, but are thriving.

Nandina (heavenly bamboo)

This is a true survivor. According to the "Southern Living Garden Book," old plants are often seen growing in cemeteries, overgrown gardens or on abandoned home sites, where they fruit and flower for decades with absolutely no care. Nandina takes sun or shade and tolerates drought, though well-drained soil is essential. It has no serious pests and is hardy everywhere.

Nandina belongs to the barberry family but is reminiscent of bamboo in its lightly branched, canelike stems and delicate, fine-textured foliage.

I have 'Firepower' and it grows to 2 feet tall and wide, and the foliage is red-tinged in the summer and bright red in the winter.

There are also a few 'Woods Dwarf' plants in my front garden -- they are dense, 1- to 2-foot-tall plants, with fall colors in crimson orange and scarlet.

Some people hate this plant because it is so easy, so familiar. Some cultivars have been called "nice gas station plants." This shrub laughs at drought, shrugs off pollution and is immune to everything. I've never been a plant snob, so I just love this one. And the deer don't like it. Good fit for me.

Viburnum

This is a diverse group of plants and we have several cultivars. Across the back terrace, there are the Burkwoods, deciduous in cold areas, nearly evergreen everywhere else. Ours lose their leaves at some point in the winter, but keep some interest for much of the year. We put them in in the early '90s, and they are 10 feet tall and almost as wide. They form a wonderful wall of fragrance in the spring -- dense, 4-inch clusters of pink buds will open to white blossoms very early in the season with a beautiful, strong scent.

I've added a Korean spice viburnum that has a loose, open habit -- not as dense as the Burkwood. It's smaller, and has the same sweet scent in the spring. I don't like it as well as the Burkwood. There's a fragrant snowball viburnum that has dull gray-green leaves, and has long-lasting, waxy blooms that are in 5-inch clusters. Great scent.

While the garden books don't note the viburnum as heavily fruiting, I did read where the heaviest fruit set occurs when several different named selections that bloom at the same time are planted together. That's what happens in our yard.

Speaking of berries, I just ordered a new viburnum from www.heronswood.com that has fabulous blue and pink fruit that adorn the branch tips fall into winter. It's Viburnum nudum'Bulk' Brandywine and it grows to 6 feet. The glossy green leaves shift to wine-red and the pinkish fruit clusters turn powdery blue, but not all at once, so each cluster is a mix of colors. I have the perfect spot for it -- let's hope the deer don't like the berries.

Flowering quince

The red flowering quince, Chaenomeles speciosa, is valued for its spring flowers. The single or double roselike flowers emerge in clusters, often before leaves develop. The oblong, serrated foliage opens bronze red and fades to a glossy dark green. It is very nice for a shrub border or espaliered to wall.

It's thorny, and practically indestructible. It can be pruned, but should not be sheared.

This is another much-maligned plant, because it's easy to grow and it's seen around farms and in natural settings. Again, I like it just because of those reasons -- and the deer don't touch it.

Japanese maple

So far, so good. I bought a beautiful Japanese maple from TerraSalis during the final days of the garden center. And so far, the deer have been ignoring it. It's in a spot where they normally don't roam, and that may be to its advantage as well.

A lesson learned: Even if a plant is deer-resistant in its infancy, it's still game for the deer population.

I put in a couple of oaks to fill in where we've lost some -- my husband laughed because the little saplings look fairly pitiful near their mighty cousins, and there are thousands of acorns strewn nearby. He asked, "Why?" But I want to make sure the woods line remains stable, so I added a few small white, red and sawtooth oaks.

Bambi and friends started to have a field day with these tender little saplings, but I've put small fencing around them so the deer are deterred. We'll see.

Not deer-proof

We added red twig and yellow twig dogwood to a garden beside the driveway. It's right in the deer path, so that might be the problem. Whatever the reason, the deer have chewed on these like crazy. I've moved two of them closer to the house. The others will have to wait their turn, and hopefully there will be something left to move when the herd is finished dining.

Reach Sara Busse at sara.bu...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1249.