Neem oil products are broad spectrum pesticides, they will kill many insect species whether potentially harmful or beneficial. I have had fairly good success with the Insecticidal Soap spray (although that too can be a broad spectrum poison), but much greater immediate kill with hand squishing of the buggers. The advantage of the IS is that it does not have any residual (long lasting after) affect. As a rule purchasing predators is not a real good idea for you since more often than not those predators you purchase go elsewhere. Create a habitat that will encourage many predators (many predators will live on plant pollen if there are no taget insects around) to live in your garden and when you do have an insect pest problem they will be there for you.

Are we talking about actual slugs here? My knowledge of roses is limited, but slugs and snails I know. I put a shallow dish of old beer(yeasty) in the ground at soil level. They come running, and die drunk and happy.

The Bristly Rose Slug, a small green thingy the chews your roses (and several other plants) leaves is the larva of a sawfly, not the same thing as a garden slug.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bristly Rose Slug

Kimmsr, thank you so much!
Is there any book you would recommend for a beginner who wants to stay as organic as possible?
I bought some IS so we'll see.

I pick rose slugs off by hand until I have a small handful, toss them on the ground, and stomp on them. It helps to frequently check on your roses and do this before they get out of hand. I see them on and off, not continuously.

I have a method for all pests. I smush aphids (just heavy infestations) with a gloved hand (the tight, breathable gloves, not the heavy kind). A blast of water works too. I drown Japanese Beetles in buckets of soapy water. Japanese beetle larvae are so gross I hate to smush them so I throw them over my hedge into the street. Organic Gardening encourages you to spend some quality time with your plants. There's no reason to buy any product if you only see a few pests that can easily be picked off. Perhaps if you had 100s of roses as many on the forums do.

I'm finding that I have fewer pests each year
(keeping fingers crossed)
Maureen

I have been crushing the Japanese beetles.
But don't really have many of them.
I only have 2 rose bushes, but the one is a rambler and supposed to get huge & there is no way I could do that by hand. For now it'll work.

"The organic Gardener's Handbook of Natural, Insect and Disease Control" edited by barbara Ellis and Fern Bradley is in my library and it does get referred to a lot, so much so that it is coming unglued (might also be age) which may indicate I need to look for a new book.

fleurdejoo, two more books are "The Organic Rose Garden" by Liz Druitt, and "Growing Roses Organically..." by Barbara Wilde.

Always make sure to know the location of the writer. What might work well in their climate/garden may not be so good in your garden.

fleurdejoo, I had a climber nearly defoliated last year because of rose slugs and I read in these forums that someone had used spinosad with good success, so I'm going to try it this year. It goes under different product names but you might look into it if you keep having problems.