This book consists of the stories behind the origins of various types of flowers, such as daffodils, snowdrops and hyacinths. Compared to modern-day children’s literature, Flower Stories distinguishes itself with its sorrowful and even tragic tone. So, for example, in the story about the water-arum (called a “pig’s ear” in Latvian), she describes the life of Jānītis, who has lost his mother and is forced to herd pigs all day by his evil stepmother. His stepmother’s children begin to call him Pig’s Ear. Later in the summer, one of Jānītis’s piglets wanders off in search of water, falls into a pool in the marsh, and begins to sink. The stepmother forces Jānītis to go after the piglet, and he manages to catch hold of it by its ears but then sinks into the bog himself. Only his fist remains above the water, and this transforms into a flower.

In the story about the peony, the main character is also a child
who has lost her mother. Peony is the oldest daughter in a family of six children and is in love with a boy named Simeons. However, due to all of her chores and the need to take care of her younger brothers and sisters, she can’t leave to marry her beloved. Simeons goes off to seek his fortune in faraway lands and sends Peony a marriage proposal every two years,
but they are always forced to delay their wedding. In her old age, Peony writes to Simeons that she is ready at last to join him, but Death arrives first and refuses to wait for Peony to marry. Soon afterwards, we see Simeons standing at her grave with a peony, which he brings as a sign of his love.

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