Question
This is too many - can you point to 3 you really like the most?
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Followup To

Question -
There are so many books out there. I was wondering if you would be able recommend the best books about Roses.

Answer -
Because they are so photogenic, there are thousands of books about these flowers.  More roses are introduced every year, more techniques come along, and despite the power of the internet it is still great to have a book to page to when you have a problem with one of these - or simply want to adore them.

I have my favorites, but these are also 5-star rated at Amazon.com:

1. "American Rose Society Encyclopedia of Roses" is a HUGE color reference book about our favorite subject. Rose fragrance, flower sizes, growth and flowering habits, height, hardiness and more are included in entries for more than 2000 roses.

2.  "Growing Roses Organically: Your Guide to Creating an Easy-Care Garden Full of Fragrance and Beauty" (a Rodale Organic Gardening Book) was written by Barbara Wilde, who gardens in Normandy, France, and writes with an artist's eye for landscaping. She includes garden design templates and her own evaluations of roses for fragrance and culture, as well as rules for growing healthy roses the old fashioned way.

3.  "A Year of Roses" is written by Steven Scanniello, the rosarian for Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Rather than write an all purpose book, he focuses on different climates around the country where needed and will even guide you on ordering roses by mail. Novices and experts will both love this book.

4.  "Growing Roses in Cold Climates" by Jerry Olson was published nearly a decade ago, but it is just the guide for those of us who must grow own root roses that were never meant to be snowed on as well as endorsements of those that are reliable north of the Mason Dixon line.

5.  "Beautiful Roses" by Marie-Helene Loaec is this rosarian's pick of her favorite 50 in a genus of thousands. If you love roses so much you cook with them, she includes recipes as well.

6.  "Designing with Roses" is listed here for including aristocratic author Tony Lord's opinions of the most common rose design errors and preferred landscaping techniques, complete with practical photos to make his points. Lord is currently in charge of the Sissinghurst Gardens. An excellent, enormous reference.

7.  "Rose Recipes from Olden Times" by Eleanour Sinclair Rohde would have been the perfect guide for a recent question about harvesting rose hips to make homemade tea. Rohde includes instructions on how to make soap, potpourri and pomanders with your Roses.

8.  "100 Old Roses For The American Garden" published by Smith & Hawken is a first rate book considering the S&H mailorder/chain is in fact a subsidiary of one of my least favorite chemicals pushers. My favorite factoid from this paperback is the theme that Old Roses don't need to be grown in a homogenous Rose Ghetto; they can be spread around the garden easily, and grown with unrelated plants in the border. The photos will hook you on old roses.

9.  "Classic Roses" by Peter Beales, himself a famous breeder (www.classicroses.co.uk), is an updated reprint of his highly successful 1985 volume. Beales hands out first rate advice on many problems, drawing on his personal work.

10. "A Bouquet of Roses: Glorious Arrangements for All Occasions" - This is a book I swore I would buy eventually - the photos are beautiful but the subject is so close to my heart. There is so much advice about cutting roses and bouquets, I could not resist. Lots of specific information about the roses in the illustrations. Practical as well as pretty.

I own some but not all of these. There's not enough room to own EVERY book on these. And I do have other subjects, magazines and professional journals. If I had to start from scratch, I would begin with these.

To tell you the truth I would be interested in what the other Experts in this area would include in their list.

Thank you for writing.

Answer
Books 2, 5 and 6 -- can't go wrong. The others are great but Rodale is at the top of the list for its back to basics nontoxic ethical earthfriendly techniques; design is the foundation of everything; and a rose pundit's personal favorites -- these alone would answer any question you could ever have about La Rose.