Roses are just deer chow in expensive form. And no, they don't eat R multiflora and tend to avoid R canina. Probably because they are excessively thorny.
Unless you are prepared to spray with a deer repellent or enclose them with netting, forget it. And even those protections don't always work.
Even if they don't eat the bush, they'll chomp on the buds so you never see a flower.

Ok, thanks! *big sigh* That point about never seeing a flower seals the deal. What's the point of a rose bush if it never flowers?!

If you want your precious flowers and veggies, avoid a lot of tears and heartache and put in a small fenced in area. It'll be a place where plants are safe from deer. You'll still have to deal with tunneling rodents and other varmints. Ah, life in the country...

I've had good luck with rugosa roses...they smell sweet, are extra hardy, rebloom, and are so thorny the deer tend to leave them alone.

The deer eat my wild rose canes all year long. Just recently the wild roses have grown big enough that I get at least a small show of roses in spring.

Dried blood (organic fertilizer) thrown all over the place has repelled deer and rabbits for me this year.

i don't think you should forego growing roses because of deer. there are _lots_ of plants that deer might eat. reading these message boards, you'll see that people have different experiences where deer will even go after supposedly "deer-resistant" plants.

i do think it's a good idea to make your garden less accessible to deer. we have a fence around our yard. not a deer net fence, just a cedar picket fence. and, so far, this has done a decent job at keeping the deer out. the only time we have had problems seems to have been when someone has left the driveway gate open.

if you have a big open yard where the deer are free to wander in and out, unobstructed, you should consider a solution to keep the deer out. make this a part of your gardening plan. doing this will give you a lot of more options for planting.

one thing to consider is the cold hardiness of your roses. there's a great section about "antique/old garden roses" here on "gardenweb" --- i've learned _tons_ of information there. my roses are all newly planted -- this year --- so far, so good...

--robbie--