Roses From Ashes? Not So Fast...

Somewhere on the net I read a post by a woman who changed her life for the better.

She said and I quote:

From the ashes grew a rose of a self, dedicated to a new life.

I thought: If you want to improve your life, that's okay with me. And it's a nice metaphor, if a little too cliche for me.

But...but do roses grow all that well in ashes?

So I surfed the net, especially for sites about growing roses. One rose grower said he would use ashes on roses only once or twice a season because it would interfere with the PH of the soil. He also said he would do it only if the ground was too acidic.

Therefore..adequate metaphor, if cliched, but bad botany.

a few notes on plants

one
plants are a lot like people.

some plants are beautiful. for example, take flowers. but some of them flowers are teases, though. like the rose -- beauty with thorns. look but don't touch -- a lot like some women.

some plants are useful, like fruits and vegetables for food, trees for fuel and shade, and grass to cover the dirt and prevent erosion.

some plants are entertaining, like hops, grains, grapes and sometimes potatoes, which are used to make alcohol. other entertaining plants include tobacco, marijuana, peyote, poppies, and some mushrooms.

but some plants -- like dandelions, queen anne's lace, thistle, and burrs -- are weeds. they don't serve us.

they're downright uppity.

two
you can do just about anything with a plant.

you can take it, whack it, cut it into little pieces, and put those pieces in a chipper. or you can burn it. or toss it in the trash. or dump them on the bottom of a river or lake.

no cops will arrest you. no prosecutor will charge you with a crime or put you on trial for it. no jury will find you guilty. no judge will sentence you.

you can't do that with and to a human being. or even try doing it with and to any random rodent.