A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose. –Gertrude Stein

God gave us our memories so that we might have roses in December.–J.M. Barrie

Gather the rose of love whilst yet is time.–Edmund Spenser

I’d rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck.–Emma Goldman

Take time to stop and smell the roses, but not if you are being followed by an angry Samurai.–J. Collins

Some people are always complaining because roses have thorns; I am thankful that thorns have roses. –Alphonse Karr

Won’t you come into the garden? I would like my roses to see you. –Richard B. Sheridan

The rose is a rose,
And was always a rose.
But the theory now goes
That the apple’s a rose. –Robert Frost

Oh, my luve’s like a red, red rose,
That’s newly sprung in June;
Oh, my luve’s like the melodie
That’s sweetly played in tune.–Robert Burns

O, how much more doth beauty beauteous seem
By that sweet ornament which truth doth give!
The rose looks fair, but fairer we it deem
For that sweet odour which doth in it live.
The canker-blooms have full as deep a dye
As the perfumed tincture of the roses,
Hang on such thorns and play as wantonly
When summer’s breath their masked buds discloses:
But, for their virtue only is their show,
They live unwoo’d and unrespected fade,
Die to themselves. Sweet roses do not so;
Of their sweet deaths are sweetest odours made:
And so of you, beauteous and lovely youth,
When that shall fade, my verse distills your truth. –Shakespeare’s Sonnet LIV (What, may I ask, is a canker-bloom? It must not smell like a rose.):

Roses in literature:

In Beauty and the Beast, Beauty’s father picks a single rose from the Beast’s garden, an act of ingratitude which marks the beginning of all their subsequent troubles.
Snow White and Rose Red is also by The Brothers Grimm.
In Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, the not-so-bright gardeners painted white roses red to please the Queen of Hearts.
The Rose by Christina Rossetti
The Rose in the Deeps of His Heart by William Butler Yeats
Short story: The Rose of Dixie by O Henry
A Rose for Emily is a short story by William Faulkner with a gruesome ending.
The Nightingale and the Rose by Oscar Wilde
The Rose in My Garden by Arnold and Anita Lobel
Robert the Rose Horse by Joan Heilbroner
The Children of Primrose Lane by Noel Streatfield (What exactly is a primrose?)
O the Red Rose Tree by Patricia Beatty
Rose in Bloom by Louisa May Alcott Eight Cousins is my favorite LMA book, and this one is its sequel. Wonderful books., they’re not really about roses, but rather about a girl named Rose and her eight boy cousins.
The Black Arrow: A Tale of the Two Roses by Robert Louis Stevenson, set during the War of the Roses in England.

The meanings of various colors and color combinations of roses: The Language of Roses

Songs about roses:

Rose of Tralee
The Last Rose of Summer
Red Roses for a Blue Lady The lyrics page cites Vaughan Monroe as the artist who had a hit with this song in 1949, but I’m pretty sure I remember Andy Williams singing it.
Everything’s Comin’ Up Roses Anybody else remember the musical Gypsy about Gypsy Rose Lee?
Ramblin’ Rose I think this is one of my daddy’s favorite Nat King Cole tunes.
Moonlight and Roses
Primrose Lane
My Wild Irish Rose
Only a Rose
Yellow Rose of Texas
San Antonio Rose
Second Hand Rose
Rose of Washington Square From the musical Thoroughly Modern Millie.
Days of Wine and Roses From the very sad movie of the same title with Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick.
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden
Mexicalli Rose A cowboy song recorded by Gene Autrey and by Bing Crosby.

Coloring Pages, Crafts, and Recipes:
Roses Are Red
Painting the Roses Red
Hugs and Kisses Sweetheart Roses Recipe
Rosa Eglanteria by Pierre Joseph Redout.
Making a Paper Napkin Rose
A Rose By Any Other Name: A Science Unit Study by Karen Caroe.