Despite the challenges posed by deer, squirrels and jackrabbits, I continue to invest considerable time, energy and money into our yard each year. Over the past 5 years, my pre-planting plans focus on two things:

1) deer/rabbit/squirrel resistance; and
2) attracting and supporting pollinators.

While the first objective continues to be a challenge, we're enjoying considerable success on the second front, to the point that most summers we end up tolerating some sort of wasp nest in our yard.

Some days in the peak of summer I count 5 or 6 different kinds of bees and wasps staying busy amongst the flowers. Even at the end of October, a couple of honey bees were hard at work in our Cosmos.