You're lucky. The deer around here ignore the thorns. In fact, I've seen canes that were browsed and no doubt there were thorns on them - so I'd say the deer were eating the thorns as well.

Deer do have preferences - for example, deer tend to avoid native rose species and their close relatives if other food is available. But like most animals, if they are hungry enough, they will eat what they can. .

IME. there is no such thing as a deer proof rose. If you have deer - and you don't do anything to protect your roses - the deer are going to get them.

I don't want to discourage you from growing roses, but if you are in deer country, you do have to take additional measures.

Home Run is a very thorny, disease-resistant rose, red singles--very easy care. However, I have no idea how deer respond to it.

Now that I think of it, Elina is taller and very thorny also, creamy with yellow highlights in the center, disease-resistant.

When I have to work closely on either one, I end up looking like I was attacked by a gang of mad felines!

What's that liquid fence stuff some gardeners spray on their plants to keep destructive predators away?

Again, I have no experience with deer, so don't take my word for anything beyond the thorniness of a few roses. : )

Kate

Deer eat roses, and no thorns are going to stop them.

So far, the usual recommended stinky stuff has been deer proof. Things like lavender, hardy geraniums, salvia and catmint. Grasses are good, as are ferns.

Then there are the beds that are very near the natural habitat of one of the few current deer predators. It shouldn't be a surprise, but they won't eat hosta if they have to stand in the street to get it.

Even if they leave the foliage alone, they will eat the flowers. A rose without flowers isn't worth the trouble.

One of thorniest roses I have is russelliana and the deer ate that. Liquid fence is worthless for me.

Either have the growth above browsing height, i.e. climbers or fence or cage.

Venison tastes good if you know how to cook it, just saying, or maybe try a large dog that sleeps outside. I don't have deer problems, just rabbits and wild pigs, so others will likely be more knowledgeable about deer. As for roses, most Rugosas are thorny, healthy, and low maint.

Fencing is the ONLY thing that keeps them out. And it has to be strong and TALL to do that. Good luck!

New Dawn is a thorny monster and very low maintenance, but "my" deer had no problem eating it, buds, leaves, thorns and all. However, they do leave the portion of the plant that are about 6 feet tall or above. But again, New Dawn IS a monster, and if and ONLY IF you don't mind letting it grow whichever way it likes or you don't mind the challenge of taming it, it would be a good choice for deer country. ND's sport, Awakening, is a good choice too if you like the way these monsters grow.

In case you are interested in either rose, check the postings for horry stories about these two so you know what you are getting into.

I agree that deer don't generally bother lavender, salvia, catmint, Russian sage, rudbeckia, coneflower, boxwood (smells like cat pee to them) and others, but don't depend on smelly plants to keep deer away from roses or tomatoes (they looove tomatoes). Deer also love euonymus (how the heck is that spelled?) They feasted on that one every winter until I replaced it with boxwood. Diane

I have never had deer eat my rugosa roses. I have 21 different rugosas and the deer--of which I have an abundance--have never even nibbled them. Plus, they don't blackspot or otherwise need spraying, and are very tough, cold hardy roses. Many of them sucker, and thus make good hedges.

Liquid Fence is what the earlier poster referred to. I live in heavy deer country. I spray Liquid Fence every other week and it works. But I don't let it go any longer than two weeks without re-applying. It's not cheap, but still a small price to pay for having roses (I have a fairly small yard though). I think it seems more effective if generally applied to an area. I even spray deer-resistant plants lightly, and the really yummy stuff gets dripping.

Blanc double de Coubert and New Dawn...ouch! The thorns are razors.

I've watched them lift their lips and use their teeth to tear off the buds without touching a thorn. They won't jump over anything they can't see over, so a five or six foot privacy fence might keep them out. Otherwise, the fence needs to be 8 or 10 feet tall.

I live in an area where deer are EVERYWHERE and eat whatever they want. The only thing that has worked for is using the stinkiest spray possible. I cannot remember the name right now, but we got it at our local nursery. I have to make sure all of the windows are closed when my hubby sprays it too. The deer haven't really bothered any of my roses in the past few years with this stuff.

Deer Scram has worked for me at two different houses. It is granular, just sprinkle on. No need to reapply after a rain unless you have a deluge. I love it.