Any roses deer don't eat

charles kidder

last year

I know this is a long shot, but are there any roses worth growing that deer don't eat?

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User

last year

last modified: last year

In a word, no. I once had 3000+ roses on an acre of the property, and over the years, every single rose in that garden has been eaten by deer several times. There's no such thing as a deer resistant rose - they are all candy to the "hooved slugs".

The only "deer proof" roses are the ones they cannot reach.

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Comments (47)

BenT (NorCal 9B Sunset 14)
last year

Only ones like this, ’Princesse Charlene de Plastico’.
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SILVEIRAS, Brazil � Jorge da Silva plucked a giant ant from the muddy ground, pulled off its wings, legs and mandible, and tossed it into his mouth like popcorn. The i��s are an obsession for the 6,000 people in Silveiras. "Tastes like mint," said Mr. da Silva, 58, with an audible crunch of his teeth. In his rubber boots, Mr. da Silva roamed the hills above this town of 6,000 people with a stick and a plastic bucket. He was on the hunt for Silveiras�s obsession and a rare gastronomic delicacy in Brazil: i��s, or queen ants. The thunderous spring rains in October and November drive the ants out of the ground, and for a few short weeks Silveiras becomes a frenzy of ant hunting. Residents stock up, cleaning the i��s and freezing them in one and two-liter bottles to get through until the next season. But this year the ant haul was smaller than usual, residents said, and the number of ants has been dwindling. 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Deer love roses. How they can eat those stems is a wonder. Stopping them is difficult but not impossible. Fencing is the best single alternative. Using some sort of fencing or barrier along with other strategies may increase your chances. Along with fencing or by themselves, Deer Repellent Packs provide a fear barrier to keep deer away from your precious roses and other plants. You can find them online at www.DeerRepellentPacks.com Here is a link that might be useful: Keep Deer Away from your Flowers
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Oh Jean! I know what you are going thru here. I rarely catch the little B!&@#%$ in the act, but they are here more than ever before and the repellent spray just isn't stopping them anymore. I was blaming the fires for them being so bold and eating everything in sight, but now I'm thinking it's the vegetables that I planted in huge pots at the side of the garage that's attracting them in more. That's where they hit the worse. Time to toss them out and see if that will maybe lessen their visits. Next yr, I'm going to seriously work on a solution to these varmints. I plan to put up tall conduit post with holes drilled and I'll run heavy gauge wire thru them around the perimeter and hang reflective ribbons allover. Hopefully that will stop them from coming in to the yard. Then I might add a "Scarecrow" motion-detected sprinkler to a couple of spots in the yard too. But this season, I have too much going on to take the time now to get that all set up. It's very aggravating tho having to deal with these pests, isn't it??
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fig_insanity Z7b E TN
last year
last modified: last year
@BenT (NorCal 9B Sunset 14) I'm not sure they wouldn't at least take a nip out that one. You know, "just to sample", lol.

I've had deer eat New Da(m)n, as well as the thorniest of rugosas. And before I lost it to rose rosette, one year they ate every new shoot on a R. s. pteracantha. They stood on their rear legs to reach more than FIVE FEET high, just to eat the thorniest shoots imaginable. In case you aren't familiar with that rose...

Rosa sericea pteracantha and here.

Even these photos don't do it justice. Some of the thorn points were as much as an inch long, as measured from the cane. And Bambi STILL ate them.

Ask me why I grow so many ramblers up into trees...
Kimberly Wendt (Florida Z. 10b)
last year
Wow, @fig_insanity Z7b E TN, that's the weirdest, thorniest rose cane I've ever seen. Got it... Ramblers into trees. I don't have deer in the city that I know of, but we do have.... ready for it.... marauding raccoons. I kid you not. They love vegetables. And knocking over pots. It will be interesting to see what they do with Princess Anne the thorn-queen of my roses so far. I'll have to prune that crazy bush with a pole saw.... just saying. lol
Kimberly Wendt (Florida Z. 10b)
last year
Paul: 3000 roses? Gasp. and Ben? You are too funny... Pr. Charlene de Plastico! I was rolling. lol.
Bob Atchison - Pallasart - Hagia Sophia
last year
I know this will sound crazy but do you have foxes or coyotes you could bring in? What about an attack dog to scare them away?
rosecanadian
last year
Ben - so funny!! I laughed out loud. :) :)

Fig - I can never remember the name of that rose. :) :) I can see why you grow ramblers. :)

Kimberly - do the raccoons eat the rose blooms? Just curious.
Bob Atchison - Pallasart - Hagia Sophia
last year
Maybe you could buy fox poop and pee from Save a Fox on YouTube. They have around 40 rescue foxes in Minnesota and a branch in Florida -it would be worth a try. Deer also hate minks and weasels which kill them instantly given a chance.
Diane Brakefield
last year
Bob, we have more coyotes than you can count, and foxes from time to time, and the occasional cougar. Do they make a difference with the big old mule deer we have--hahaha. No. I make a difference, though, with a semi effective repellent and my great dog imitation. The badgers do rid us of gophers which can be way worse than deer. They kill the rose at its roots, which the beasts devour completely.

Ben, I'm going to send for a few of those.

Carol, I've never had raccoons eat rose blooms. I'd rather have rose blooms eaten than roots any day. Voles like roots, too, but gophers are bigger and lots worse. Diane
Embothrium
last year
last modified: last year
Deer and rabbits are best responded to with exclusion by effective fencing. Otherwise, a body is in for purchasing and application of repellant sprays over and over unendingly into the future. Or allowing random plant damaging mammalian wildlife to have its way with the products of one's gardening and landscaping efforts. That said, the two species of native roses present on my current property appear to be little bothered - certainly not enough to prevent them from maintaining a normal looking appearance and development. EXCEPT for where one species has been attempting to spread via suckers across a formerly mowed area that I have been mulching instead. These initially short, spread out and presumably irresistibly tender growths have been getting kept nipped. Which is actually useful, because the plant(s) appear to be trying to race across and damage my asphalt driveway - I may have to dig a trench and install a barrier against these rapidly creeping woody runners.
rosecanadian
last year
Bob - minks/weasels kill deer?

Diane - true.

Embothrium - wow...talk about invasive!
Embothrium
last year
last modified: last year
wow...talk about invasive!

An own root Rosa rugosa 'Alba' I had at the previous place grew under the paved ~2-lane neighborhood street - without bursting up through the asphalt at any point along the way - to appear in a lawn on the other side.

There is no question the resulting sprouts were from a runner because they came out of the ground with full stem diameters and vigor from the start. Rather than having the initial tininess and seeming timidity of seedlings. And they were immediately beyond the edge of the pavement, and only there. As though they had come up gasping for air.
Diane Brakefield
last year
I only spray repellent occasionally, mainly in spring, and the kind I use contains the usual rotten egg solids, plus oil of peppermint and white pepper oil. Fences are not an option for me. We do not not have rabbits--too many predators. Perhaps I need this guy. Diane
DDinSB (Z10b Coastal CA)
last year
My dad's neighbor had a big German Shepherd that would chase the deer off -- one night, the big buck just had it, charged, and killed the poor dog. We have coyotes galore -- and I've even bought coyote and mountain lion urine (plus we have bobcats, and the occasional mountain lion). We still get the deer. And I have a dog. And I have a husband who sometimes goes outside to do his "deer off." Nothing keeps them away. But, as Diane says, there are repellants. I've tried hers, and I've had better luck with her Deer Out (purchased on Amazon) than with Liquid Fence -- but Liquid Fence works somewhat okay, too. Depends on how hungry they are.

Re Raccoons -- I had some digging up my beds, and I bought a Costco size bottle of red hot chili pepper flakes, and spread those everywhere. Apparently, they use their little hands to pick things up and put them in their mouths, and then their lips burn and they don't like it. It seemed to work on the raccoons!

Now I need to work on the ground squirrels, rabbits, gophers, and moles.
Bob Atchison - Pallasart - Hagia Sophia
last year
last modified: last year
You really need two dogs to work together. Drives deer mad when they attack in tandem as a pack.

I was once working in my rose garden when a gopher or mole grabbed and pulled a small own-root antique rose - Rose d'Rescht - underground and ate it's roots and tender shoots - right in front of my eyes!
Sheila z8a Rogue Valley OR
last year
I hate when that happens, Bob.
rosecanadian
last year
Embothrium - really! That's incredible. :)

Deborah - oh, that poor dog.

Bob - Oh my goodness...unreal!!
Bob Atchison - Pallasart - Hagia Sophia
last year
last modified: last year
Minks and weasels are deadly - they attack and kill whatever they can bring down. I just saw a video on BBC Winterwatch of a little stoat killing a huge rabbit- sad to see. Nature is cruel.
User
last year
I think deer fencing is the best solution, but of course realize that for some people it is not an option. However, while I do have deer fencing, I also grow some roses outside of the fence and mostly they do fine. Some rugosas, John Cabot, Lavender Crush, Teasing Georgia, Super Dorothy, Purple Prince, a couple of others. The deer don't seem to bother them much. But then, even before I had the fence, I did grow roses and I did get blooms. I think it's worth experimenting - I guess it all depends on how bad the deer pressure is in your area. It's also true that deer seem to favor different things in different places; my friend who lives in upstate NY finds that her local deer eat things that they don't touch in my garden, for example. And sometimes it depends on the year, too - in drought years, I find they'll eat stuff they normally wouldn't touch. Maybe you could try one or two roses and just see what happens. Of course, if it's just one or two plants, you could also probably keep up with spraying them. And if, along with them, you grew some reliably deer resistant things like salvia, catmint, butterfly bushes, peonies, you could still have a pretty nice garden!
Mischievous Magpie (CO 5b)
last year
Minks and weasels being predators does not mean they kill deer instantly given the chance... That's a strange type of misinformation to spread.
Diane Brakefield
last year
When you live in the area I live in, fencing is often not feasible, and some, like Deborah, are not allowed to fence. I know all about how deer fencing is the way to go, but sometimes it's not possible. Badgers are considered awful by many, but I consider them a godsend when it comes to gophers. They exterminate the things. Gophers still have a bounty on them, they are so hated by farmers and ranchers and so destructive. Diane
ingrid_vc zone 10 San Diego County
last year
I don't have deer (too dry for them) but the ground squirrels decapitated all the beautiful faux flowers I had in a cement urn by the front door. I'd see scattered faux petals on the ground so they must have tried to eat them. They must be more triggered by sight than smell.

As for my rose plants, they've gotten to most of them in spite of multiple barriers, but a few closest to my front door and wall are still holding out. Fingers and toes crossed!
Diane Brakefield
last year
Ingrid, you are not drier than here--it's a desert with 10 inches of all precip per year. But mule deer love the arid West. Plus, normally, they would stay in the mountains during summer. Now they are year round residents of this area and don't migrate as much. We have the occasional moose, too, and pronghorns. Diane
Embothrium
last year
last modified: last year
deer seem to favor different things in different places.

Plants directly in front of my house that have been hit a lot - including creeping buttercup (Ranunculus repens) that is kept mowed down by them into a very low mat that has to flower on the ground to bloom at all in this situation - show little damage elsewhere here on the same property. Plants including Hydrangea macrophylla and Hyacinthoides x massartiana right around the corner of this same house, along the east wall of it. Instead of the side with the main entrance.

Also fawns sample kinds of plants adults ignore. Sometimes even dying as a result. So, every year and every place there are does bringing around the current crop browsing of plants otherwise off the menu is possible.

And that menu is enlarging. So that published lists of deer resistant plants are not holding up very well. On top of the fact that established preferences vary significantly with which species of deer a given list is based on. Something that typically is not indicated.

Finally, winter conditions are a big driver of heavy browsing of particular items - like 'Smaragd' arborvitae - that may not be eaten much, if at all the rest of the time. Eaten when so many other plants are leafless or covered by snow. With regions having lingering deep dumps being ones where deer may even be subject to catastrophic winter starvation episodes. Despite being native to them.
ingrid_vc zone 10 San Diego County
last year
last modified: last year
Diane, that's interesting, and there must be other reasons why in over 17 years here I've never seen a deer. I just researched this, and apparently there are mule deer in San Diego County but they don't migrate and need a dependable source of water in the summer, which isn't present where I live. We don't even have water in winter, for that matter. Also, the fragmentation of land by urbanization and roads is threatening their very survival in this area. As usual, we humans have managed to gum up the works. The spread of housing developments here, in spite of inadequate infrastructures and roads, is truly frightening.
Markay MD-Zone 7A (8A on new map)
last year
in areas with high deer pressure, deer will eat nearly anything and nothing much is going to stop them, so i guess the main question is what is your deer pressure like? Do you have a heard of deer decimating everything or a smaller nimber of deer grazing their way through the garden. It makes a big difference because as noted by others, deer like roses. specifically, deer like to nip the nice fat, ready to open buds off the roses. The good news is that this doesn’t kill the bush, but I’d suggest avoiding the heartbreak of once bloomers.

I found my fairy roses to be the most resistant. They were low, the buds were small, and they just weren’t worth the effort for the deer who preferred to keep their heads up as they moved through.

Rugosas also seemed a bit less appealing, but that could have been a factor of their location in relation to the paths the deer travelled.
Embothrium
last year
last modified: last year
A friend reports the hybrid rugosa 'Fru Dagmar Hastrup' is a particular deer magnet for him. As in hopeless as long as kept remaining accessible. On a property where he has another hybrid rugosa cultivar, various other roses.

Also had two bucks that showed up together last year differing completely in their response to a certain herbaceous perennial, with one eating it down and the other apparently not the least bit interested.
sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)
last year
last modified: last year
Deer and goats will eat any rose even the thorniest ones like Mermaid or Laguna. They will even eat Prickly Pear Cactus. They mainly eat the newer pads and fruit but even these have those horrid little glochids that one can never get out of one's fingers lol. Yuck

We havent had deer coming up near the house since we got our second livestock guardian Great Pyrenees dog. The roses & goats are guarded by Polar Bears lol.
sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)
last year
last modified: last year
For some reason,houzz wouldnt let me upload these pics on my last post!

Hoping for puppies sometime this year.
Steve_M in PA
last year
last modified: last year
Ingrid, the squirrels may have been after your plastic flowers not as food, but just for the chewing. Squirrels are known to chew holes in just about anything, from wood, to bones and antlers, to plastic, to plaster, to lead, to aluminum! The almost-new plastic playground equipment in the park near me has extensive damage from these critters. I will say, however, that the rate of damage seems to have slowed down, despite an occupied squirrel nest in an oak tree right next door. So I don't know if the fresh plastic had a better smell and taste, or was easier to chew, or if certain squirrels like it more than others? Maybe the ones that liked it died off ... it was an awful lot of plastic that went missing, and I can't imagine it's healthy for the squirrels.
- https://www.walterreeves.com/insects-and-animals/squirrel-dumb-things-they-chew-on/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/natureismetal/comments/mjm8yu/the_neighborhood_squirrels_have_begun_chewing/
charles kidder
Original Author
last year
Thanks for the replies. I have a 6' privacy fence in my back and side yard that was installed 25 or so years ago to keep deer out and it works great. The only problem is rabbits and ground hogs dig under it.

I'm looking for something in the front, so a privacy fence isn't an option. I've tried things that produce hyper sonic sounds and red lights and doesn't seem to do anything. I have some mature roses that were behind some large shrubs and the large shrubs protected them. I got rid of the large shrubs and replaced them with more roses. Bing doorbell shows the deer eating them at night. I'm hesitant to spray anything. I have a lot of light colored stonework and I'm afraid an eggy sulphury concoction might leave a yellow stain.

We used to have a fox that came out most nights. Bing hasn't picked it up in a while, so I assume it's no longer. And I don't think it scared the deer.

If it gets bad. I might put in an electric wire. Pretty sure that works. But, I'm afraid someone might get hurt and I would need a lawyer. Delivery guys frequently take short cuts through the garden.

There are a lot of motion sensor devices. I wonder why no one makes a wolf head with red eyes and growling noises.
mad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)
last year
I live on a somewhat busy road, and have had little trouble with deer eating the roses near the road. It is after all the favored habitat of one of the few natural enemies deer still possess - the F150.
sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)
last year
I've been shocked by our solar electric fence more times than I can count lol. I'm still alive :) Apparently I'm stupider than our dogs, pigs, or goats who won't go near that fence lol. It doesn't really hurt but it definitely gets ones attention.
rosecanadian
last year
Sultry - your male certainly looks interested in your female....I bet you'll have pups. :) :) That is so good that they offer protection for your roses!! They're such beautiful dogs. :) LOL about your animals being smarter than you are. :) :) Sounds like something I would do...over and over.

Steve - I never would have thought that squirrels would be a problem for plastic. LOL Always something to learn here. :) :)

Kidhorn2 - a growling wolf head!! That sounds great...plus they could throw in wolf urine with it. :) :)
Melissa Mc (6b)
last year
I have a TON of deer around my area. They will eat anything, even things they aren't 'supposed' to like (hydrangeas, etc.). The only thing that keeps them away for me is the 'stinky' sprays that smells like garlic and rotten eggs. You just have to remember to spray it after every rain or they will be back to having your roses as snacks! My BFF's mom used to have her sons pee around her garden but that would only work for a little while before they got used to the smell. I have heard fox pee is a good deterrent too.
sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)
last year
rosecanadian, Yes, I think he is very interested in her lol. He is just now getting to that age despite his size. He is still only half grown!

Bobcat and coyote urine is good I hear. I know the deer here are very wary of coyotes because that is the top predator for deer here. I have seen them chasing deer.
oursteelers 8B PNW
last year
We have lots of coyotes but they only hunt rabbits, cats and small dogs in our neighborhood :(
Kimberly Wendt (Florida Z. 10b)
last year
What had a coyote show up at our back slider door one night. We thought it was a stray dog at first. Then we looked again.... Fox lay down a scent when they want to, very very heavy and pungent. Not urine, an actual scent. Will make your eyes water. There is an organic company that makes sprays containing various strong smelling natural scents for repelling various critters.

BUT by far the best deer repellant I've ever seen was little mesh bags hanging in the lower branches of apple trees... containing travel sized bars of Irish Spring soap. And ONLY Irish Spring bar soap. I have no idea what's in it, but the deer stay off the apple trees when a bunch of those are hung around. Ah... unwrapped of course. Several to a tree.
BenT (NorCal 9B Sunset 14)
last year
Kimberly

I had read that Irish Springs placed at your feet makes cramps go away. So it repels deer too? There’s something about that stuff they are not telling us!
oursteelers 8B PNW
last year
I absolutely hate being the naysayer but Irish Spring doesn’t deter anything.
User
last year
The Irish Spring soap thing is just a myth.
rosecanadian
last year
Sultry - he's going to be HUGE!!

Well, Kimberley's Irish Soap worked for her apple trees. So it may not work for many people...but it did for her. :) :)
User
last year
Here's my take on the Deer problem: I've seen many people report over the years that "such and such a plant/rose/shrub never gets eaten by Deer, because it's never happened to me". My personal observations suggest that if someone has a rose that has never been browsed by Deer, that doesn't mean its impervious to Deer damage - it only means it hasn't happened yet. I have seen various shrubs and perennials on our farm left untouched by Deer for years at a time, and then suddenly one year they decide its on the menu and they chomp the crap out of it.

So, how do you know for a fact that Irish Spring soap is keeping Deer from browsing a plant, rather than the Deer simply opting not to eat it for other reasons?? People have said on many occasions that "Deer don't eat Rugosa Roses", but here on our farm, I witness Deer happily chomping away on any one of my fifteen Rugosa varieties every year. If Deer haven't eaten something in your yard, there is a significant possibility that - for reasons only known to the Deer - it hasn't happened yet.
Sheila z8a Rogue Valley OR
last year
Irish Spring never worked for me.
summersrhythm_z6a
last year
I use solar string lights, and solar powered animal deterrent devices all over the yard. They’re working so far. I have used fishing lines too at country weekend garden in the past. Deer hates blinking lights and sounds. My rose gardens are in the open (no fence), but they are all near driveways or houses at 2 country properties. This year I will start a veggie garden, I am thinking about fencing it in at this moment since it won’t be close to the house.
sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)
last year
last modified: last year
Garden solar lighting sounds nice! Do you have fireflies there? I wonder if the blinking lights attract them lol. We get fireflies in the summer here.

I have a very bright dusk to dawn barn light on the front of the barn and fairy lights inside that are solar. They dont blink though. I put a rose bed on one side of the barn and am currently installing one outside the fence in front of the barn. So far no deer have touched these beds. The dogs are further back in the field. Now I am wondering if the lights have helped?

Some deer are really bold. I remember when we lived in Wyoming, very rural. The mule deer would make rounds of all the houses in the evenings. They came up and ate habaneros right out of the garden with us standing 20ft away. I thought that would serve them right but they seemed unfazed and trotted up to the next house, climbed the stairs to the second story deck and ate up all the flowers out of their deck flower boxes for dessert lol.
rosecanadian
last year
Sultry - no way!! LOL They climbed the stairs to the 2nd story deck? That's unreal...I never would have thought they would do that. Man, that's bold!

Summers - what kind of solar-powered animal deterrents? I've seen on a t.v. show that deer hate things that bother their sense of depth...so like staggered fishing lines, etc. I'm glad that you have a system that works. :)

Any roses deer don't eat

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charles kidder
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