As a 'general rule of thumb', those plants with very aromatic foliage are often safe from grazers. I have found this to be largely true, but animals vary in their taste from location to location.

These are perennials, but can be grown AS annuals. Lantana, in particular, will bloom its head off for you all summer long if grown in full sun.

Here are a FEW that would be worth trying: thyme, verbena, veronica, lantana, yarrow, santolina, sage, rosemary, plumbago, and I know that there's a zillion more! Others will chime in, I'm sure.

I don't have rabbits (the coyotes graze on them) but I do have major deer problems. I have discovered 4 things tend to make them less likely to be deer candy. 1. Aromatic foliage 2. fuzzy foliage (ie lamb's ear, anchusa, russian sage etc) 3. silver foliage (maybe because it tends to be fuzzy) and 4. native hybrids (ie hybridized achilleas vs. wild native achilleas.)

Some annuals that the deer at least don't touch are marigolds, dahlias, zinnias, salvia and snapdragons. I also grow a lot of various coreopsis as annuals since some of them are not hearty for me.

Here in my Maryland garden, rabbits(or deer)even eat Lantanas. The lady at my local nursery assured me they wouldn't! I had some beautiful varieties and I came outside the other morning and it was like a massacre-they mostly just chewed all the branches off and left them laying there! I'm going out today to get some marigolds and zinnias! Not only my time, but about $25 down the tube-I guess all the clover in my grass isn't good enough for them!

In cases like that, it would be wise to use a commercial repellent, as well as those plants that are typically 'safe'.

Check My Page for my recipe for rabbit/deer repellent. It really works and is cheaper than a commercial repellent. The only drawback is having to reapply after rain :)

Well, I sprinkled chili powder on my ornamental kale last night (the only annual bothered by rabbits so far). Either it'll repel them (I'm listening out the window for sounds of rabbits sneezing) or they'll adapt and make salsa.

I second the recommendation for annuals with aromatic foliage. Mexican bush sage (Salvia leucantha) generally doesn't bloom until late summer/fall but otherwise fits the bill; S. guaranitica and S. 'Indigo Spires' are among others to try (these are perennials to be treated as annuals in Minnesota).

I swear, either I'm just going to have to learn to buy less expensive perennials, or get accustomed to the Stalag 17 look in the garden. These little... darlings simply move from one plant to another. Doesn't matter if it's scented foliage or not, unless I've sprayed it like, yesterday with Liquid Fence (pee-yewwww!) or caged it in chicken wire it's fair game for the rabbits. Even zinnia foliage, dahlia buds and blossoms, and little nips out of my salvia! SALVIA for pity's sake!

To make matters worse, my husband came in from mowing the lawn this weekend to announce that he saw the cutest little baby bunny hopping through the yard. Great, so the family's expanded already. We'll see just how adorable he thinks they are when I tally up how much I've spent on plants that they've gnawed to bits!

I hate to be a killjoy, but in my garden this year the rabbits developed a taste for marigolds, especially the expensive vanilla ones.

We've had rabbits reported on the next block. Oh no! Have any of you trapped them? Hav-a-heart? What size? And what did you bait them with? We have squirrel and raccoon traps available. Would much appreciate your thoughts.

One neighbor thinks they're cute. She even buys flats of pansies for them in the fall - like they'll be selective about what they eat, huh?

Rosie

Your neighbor's attitude is about to become YOUR potential problem, sorry to say. Tell her that you're going to use pansies to bait your Hav-A-Hart. The traps should be baited with whatever it is the animal likes to eat, after all.

The good news is that it is totally possible to live with a few rabbits (as long as a well meaning but ignorant neighbor isn't training them to feed on the ornamentals). Our rabbits seem happy with clover and dandelions!

There are a number of repellents that work quite well, especially if you don't have a lot of rabbit pressure right now. I'm talking about the commercial products, rather than stuff from the pantry. Cayenne pepper might work, but it would have to go on the plant's foliage.

You might want to call your local Extension office or Wildlife department to find out what the laws are in your community for relocating rabbits. It's illegal in some areas to transport nuisance animals from your backyard to elsewhere. If okay, there are lots of websites explaining how to trap them, transport them, and release them.

I planted marigolds along my front walkway last summer, and could not keep up with something that liked munching on them. I'm assuming it was rabbits since deer don't seem to venture too near the house in summer months. The deer leave my veggie garden nearby alone. Marigolds are out this year. Once marigolds were established they seemed to be left alone, but the the ones I purchased to replace the ones they'd eaten also got eaten. It was a pretty sorry looking garden.

rabbits LOVE verbena and ate all of mine this summer.