Mrs. Fitzherbert was asked to take care of Dimple, an eight year old orphaned girl. She gave Dimple a plot of ground to grow her own garden. The book uses garden analogies to teach lessons throughout: "Yes, I see a lot of weeds this afternoon. A nasty ugly one has just cropped up, called disobedience; and impatience and self-will have been up some time, and are growing bigger every day." The story teaches that roses must have a gardener to grow well and so we see the need of God tending our souls.