Roses
 

About a week ago, I bought some lovely rose bushes and planted them in my front yard. All were in bud and a couple were ready to flower.

Today I got home from work to discover that all the buds had been removed from all but one of the new rose bushes! :mad:

So I'm wondering if anyone knows if there's some animal out there that likes to eat roses, and what could be done about it. We do have a problem with deer, but I thought they went after bulbs more than flowers.

Alternatively, it is possible that some person deliberately damaged the bushes. We have made an enemy of one family on the block; they have teenagers, and the end of our driveway is the school bus stop for high school students. Interestingly enough, the one undamaged bush is the one closest to the house.

I am so MAD because I dropped a lot of money on those bushes, and I suspect it is deliberate vandalism by the nasty family down the block, and there is nothing I can do because I have no proof. I may have to transplant them to the back yard, and I'm not sure if they'd survive the trauma of being transplanted twice in quick succession.

I'm going to call the nursery in the morning - they're closed now - but I am so :mad: :mad: :mad: right now that I had to vent...

To my knowledge I would not think an animal would go for a rose bush since they are very thorny. My mother plants them every year and they bloom like crazy, look beautiful, but hurt when you touch them.

I really hope someone would not resort to physical damage of your house because they didn't like you. How immature and lame. I hope somehow the bush blossoms or you are able to get a new one

From what I know, growing up in the middle of nowhere, deer will eat roses and flowers. That might be your culprit... :)

probably deer ate the roses. In Austin we have so many deer that people wil place netting or fencing over there flowers otherwise they would be eaten. There are some plants that you can get to surround your rose bushes that deer will avoid but I can't remember the names of them (saw it on Martha Stewart). If you look around the area you may see deer droppings, also look at what is left of the bush-sometimes you can tell if the plant was cut by a sharp object (ends would not be frayed) vs. chewed off

The deer eat the rose flowers ALL THE TIME...
My dad used to make cages out of chicken wire to keep them away!

I guess I don't live in an area that is rural enough to have deer, but I would think that deer would be hesitant to get close to homes.

Not really... a lot of deer, especially in suburban areas, have no fear of people. I grew up way out in the country, but a lot of times they would walk right up to our windows and look in.

A lot of times, in newer suburban areas (where there is still a lot of trees and brush around) the deer get displaced when the subdivisions start going up. They'll make their new homes in the woods, and as they get used to people being around, they'll come out in early morning and late evening to find food and check things out.

Crows and rabbits turned out to our flower eaters.
You can always plant a hidden camera. My dad also thought I our neighbors were screwing w/ us.

It probably was the deer. We live right next to wetlands, and we get deer all the time. They walk right up to the house sometimes... no fear whatsoever.

Now that I've calmed down, I figure it is more likely to be animals than our evil neighbors... the flowers were torn or bitten off, not cut. Now, I have to figure out how to repair the damage so that I might get another batch of roses.

I guess I will have to get some chicken wire :(

Or possibly a shotgun. Now where did I leave those venison recipes... :D

You could also install an electric fence.

They make these wires that you set up fairly close to the ground. They're not visible but they do the trick as far as keeping animals out. A shock from one of those and they'll get nowhere near.

I have a big deer problem, too. I actually had to call in late to work one day because there was 11 deer in the middle of the road, and they refused to move!

After Bambi ate over 50 tulip bulbs, I found a spray that repels them without hurting either the flower or the deer. There's several good ones available at any garden department. I was also given a recipe to make my own by a game warden, but it smelled so bad that I was repelled, too!