"Jan" wrote :
Anyone know of a quick remedy for the deer that are eating my rose buds??

Like something I can spray on them??

I've had deer DEFOLIATE rosebushes. Some died from it,
including my small R. brunonii which had just bloomed, and
my R. sericea pteracantha which had quadrupled in size from
the cutting I'd bought a few months earlier.

The following spray appears to work for me. It's merely a stronger,
nastier version of one that I've seen here and elsewhere.

3 ounces or more hot (30,00 Scoville units at least) dried peppers,
or better yet cayenne pepper powder
24 ounces to a quart of denatured alcohol (70% isopropyl might do
but I haven't tried it yet; vodka will do but is more expensive)
3 or 4 ounces of garlic (garlic powder or that ready-minced stuff
seems to be okay)
up to a dozen raw eggs (at least 4 or 5)

Soak peppers in alcohol for a few hours; overnight or longer might
be better. You can decant the liquid off of cayenne powder, but if
you're using dried peppers it might be better to reduce the mix to a
puree in a blender, then strain it through a very fine sieve or through
cheesecloth.

Add garlic or garlic powder to however much water seems to be
necessary, and puree that in a blender; strain as above.

Beat eggs until they're more of less homogenous (or use a blender).

Mix the three liquids together. Put in a sprayer and dilute to two
gallons. Spray over all the foliage, flowers, buds, and young stems.
Repeat after a heavy rain or several light ones.

Some pundits swear that the eggs are the most effective component.
The alcohol is to extract the capsaicin from the peppers. Oh, and
shop around for the garlic and the peppers. In parts of the US with
a big Latin population you can sometimes find brands aimed at them,
and the ready-miced garlic and the hot peppers are sometimes much
cheaper than those sold under other brand names. Also try those
Asian-food groceries (usually run by Koreans, according to a Korean
friend). The arbol and japones chiles (Latin) and Thai chiles (Asian)
seem to be adequately hot. Some warehouse club stores have bulk
cayenne pepper for a few dollars a pound, and the more-reasonably
-priced health food stores may have 90,000-Scoville cayenne powder
at $7/pound or less. More than $2 for 3 ounces of hot pepper is a bit
much. I've come to prefer the cayenne powder: less work.

Denatured alcohol has shot up in price: nearly $10/gallon. Cheap
70% isopropanol can be half as expensive, but, again, I haven't tried
it yet. A good test: decant from over cayenne powder, let a little of
the liquid evaporate in a dish, then taste the residue. I'll go try that.

A fence is the only sure way to prevent deer damage, though.

Mark., hoping that what's left of Henri won't add to the rain