We have a lot of rabbits, and they haven't eaten my hydrangeas (except for the young shoots of oakleaf hydrangea in the winter, but they don't touch the mopheads). They also haven't touched my hostas, or my native crested iris. The perennials/shrubs they seem to like most are toad lilies, native asters, echinacea, and - most of all - blueberries.

plant a guard dog???

ken

We've been having problems with rabbits too, and we've found that these bunnies will eat anything, especially if it's young and tender. Honestly, the only thing that really works is to get rid of them. We've used a havahart traps and have trapped and released 5 bunnies. That has made huge difference in what is now actually growing in our gardens.

In partial shade/dappled shade for me, the nasty, awful, greedy rabbits have not touched:

Ferns
Hellebores
Geranium macrorrhizum and hybrids
Geranium maculatum
Stylophorum diphyllum
Pycnanthemum muticum (in the sunnier areas)
Thalictrum
Columbines

Plants that they love to target:

Phlox stolonifera
Phlox divaricata
Aster cordata (but not Aster divaricata)
Geranium phaeum

Keep in mind however that if hungry enough, rabbits will eat and destroy ANYTHING, regardless of what books have to say. Even if it is something supposedly lethal.

Marthastoo, what did you use as bait in you havahart trap? We tried a trap too, but have caught nothing. The rabbits are everywhere and seem to be laughing at our efforts while they continue to eat the garden plants, especially anything new.