While helping take care of his great-aunt's rose bush, young Douglas learns about family members who have done the same, starting with his great-great-grandfather, and comes to see how each is still part of that bush.
Wanda mistakes a thornbush for a rosebush in the empty lot. She clears away the trash around it and cares for it every day, even though no roses bloom.
Madison, who is finally convinced to get a rose painted on her face at the park, soon realizes that the painting is multiplying and spreading across her body, but she and her family figure out a way to get rid of it.
Two sisters find a good use for the roses they have grown when their plane from South Africa is delayed by a storm, causing them to miss a flower show in New York City.