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    There are numerous resources for the curious gardener about coping with the deer issue.  Try searching the two words deer gardening on Google and you will find more material than you can possibly read.  A friend gave me a decent book: Deer Proofing Your Yard & Garden by Rhonda Massingham Hart (1997, Storey Publishing, VT).  This book contains lists of plants that are deer resistant, plants that deer like, and strategies for successfully gardening in deer-infested regions. Many other book both for sale and free from government agencies, as sell as web sites, are available.
     To briefly summarize what you can read on the subject, deer are browsers and nibble at everything.  How much they eat depends upon their taste for a particular plant and how hungry they are.  Your best defense is a fence, (chemical or physical) and planting those plants which are least loved and least damaged by Odocoileus virginianus (white-tailed deer). Fencing can be effective if it is high enough (8 ft. at least) and sturdy. Fencing is, however, often unsightly and usually disallowed by covenants and/or zoning.  Chemical repellents work by possessing an odor or flavoring offensive to deer.  However, if they are hungry enough, as they often are in winter, chemical repellents may not suffice.  These solutions involve substantial initial and subsequent labor and expense, which is sometime a human repellent. 
     One of the more effective methods for deer-proof gardening is that of planting things deer do not particularly like.  Unless you plan on physical or chemical protection garden defenses, forget about tulips and most other bulbs, hostas, azaleas and many common bedding plants.  These are deer salad bar.  A good guideline for gardening in deer-prone areas is to plant varieties which either have a scent, are toxic, or can grow above 5 feet.  Deer are browsers and will nibble on everything.  If they are starving, they will try just about any plant, toxic or not.  They typically don't want to have plant scents on their fur, so culinary herbs, vegetables in the cabbage family (Crucifer) and mint families are often a good choice, but no guarantee.  Toxic plants like daffodil, foxglove, peony, and lily-of-the-valley are often good, but also not guaranteed.   Shrubs, large or climbing roses, and trees can all be protected with small circular fences until the grow tall enough to avoid branch browsing.
       For more information visit your favorite garden center, library of book store and learn more about how to deer-proof your yard.  The Maryland Department of Natural Resources sponsors a deer management program  which encourages deer herd reduction through hunting programs.

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