A Rose for Emily

So I want to share my opinion of this story, just let it go, right now, it was weird, grotesque, I mean I'm not even sure of words that describe it. But anyway, for the basics, A Rose for Emily, like How I met my Husband, is another flashback. Yet, except this time, instead of being told by the main character, it's told in first person plural shortly after her death. Which, I believe the first person plural to represent those of the townspeople.
I feel much of the story builds suspense. I mean she buys arsenic, and then purchases things for the wedding, and then Homer Barron disappears, and she is never seen...and the smell. By the end, it all makes sense, but when reading it through, it just seems like a series of unrelated events. To me, it also seems very choppy--like so many parts of her life are missing, but then again, that is what happens when one disappears into a house for years and years.
My final comments/questions/random thoughts
1. She let people (art students) into her house?!? ew ew
2. The title suggests a rose for Emily. Where does the rose come into play in this story?