Don't know about Otto Luykens, but they will certainly eat while standing on hard surfaces. My neighbor gave up on the hostas she kept on her patio in planters because that was prime deer chow.

We had several Luykens at our home in Montgomery County for over 10 years and I never saw any evidence that the omnipresent deer ever touched them - can't say the same for my tomatoes, unfortunately!

We have a whole family of deer living in the woods behind my house. I have Otto Luykens in my foundation plantings along the front of my house, and the deer have never come near them. However, we have 2 large, noisy dogs who pee all over the yard and bark at anything that moves, so the deer might be staying away because of them!

I don't know about the other comment (that they won't eat from a hard surface); I'd imagine if they were hungry enough they'd eat from wherever they wanted.