Ashes on Roses?
My daughter and grandson were cleaning out her fireplace in the anticipation of the longed for spring and warm summer. As she shoveled out the remains from the latest fire lighting she glanced at me quizzically and asked if I sill wanted ashes for the garden. “Yes,” I replied, “I do.” A strange hush settled over the room. All that was audible was the scrape, scrape of the little metal shovel and the swish, swish of the little whiskbroom. A dustpan lies patiently nearby waiting to be filled with the last of the winter ash evidence. I dearly wanted to inform them of the value of nitrates found in ashes which the agricultural minds of today now agree are essential for fertilizer production. Furthermore I wanted to push my case of ashes on roses but the looks of the faces of my unbelieving audience forbid it. So I will tell it to you...
Gram used ash dust on her rose bushes that lined the east side of the driveway for as long as I could remember. Agreed, it was not always a pretty sight seeing the rose plant leaves covered with gray ash. But after the very first good spring rain how those roses did bloom! According to folklore, the fine ash powder deterred future generations of hungry little aphids from becoming a reality. A bonus to all this business of sprinkling the ashes was that as the rain washed off the leaves the sediment eventually trickled down into the soil, nourishing the plant roots and thereby making the roses and everybody else very happy.
Not to be left out of the mentioning are the weeds always abounding in any garden. They are not particularly overjoyed at having ash dust sprayed all over them. Something in the burned out cinders does not agree with their finely tuned digestive systems. Most weeds just keeled over and died! When admirers of Gram’s roses exclaimed over the fullness of the bloom and the healthy green leaves, Gram just smiled and gave me many a mischievous wink concerning the little known secret we shared over the use of ashes on roses.
I am reminded of Mark 4:25a, “For he that hath, to him shall be given.” Is it not amazing that everything God created in the earth has a unique function? Ashes, which were a bane to many a furnace attender, actually was a much needed soil enhancement for the farmer. I am sure many a farmer wondered what he would do with the mound of ashes he had accumulated over the cold winter months. Funny thing, our heavenly Father knew all along that ashes on roses was a very good thing!
My daughter and grandson were cleaning out her fireplace in the anticipation of the longed for spring and warm summer. As she shoveled out the remains from the latest fire lighting she glanced at me quizzically and asked if I sill wanted ashes for the garden. “Yes,” I replied, “I do.” A strange hush settled over the room. All that was audible was the scrape, scrape of the little metal shovel and the swish, swish of the little whiskbroom. A dustpan lies patiently nearby waiting to be filled with the last of the winter ash evidence. I dearly wanted to inform them of the value of nitrates found in ashes which the agricultural minds of today now agree are essential for fertilizer production. Furthermore I wanted to push my case of ashes on roses but the looks of the faces of my unbelieving audience forbid it. So I will tell it to you...
Gram used ash dust on her rose bushes that lined the east side of the driveway for as long as I could remember. Agreed, it was not always a pretty sight seeing the rose plant leaves covered with gray ash. But after the very first good spring rain how those roses did bloom! According to folklore, the fine ash powder deterred future generations of hungry little aphids from becoming a reality. A bonus to all this business of sprinkling the ashes was that as the rain washed off the leaves the sediment eventually trickled down into the soil, nourishing the plant roots and thereby making the roses and everybody else very happy.
Not to be left out of the mentioning are the weeds always abounding in any garden. They are not particularly overjoyed at having ash dust sprayed all over them. Something in the burned out cinders does not agree with their finely tuned digestive systems. Most weeds just keeled over and died! When admirers of Gram’s roses exclaimed over the fullness of the bloom and the healthy green leaves, Gram just smiled and gave me many a mischievous wink concerning the little known secret we shared over the use of ashes on roses.
I am reminded of Mark 4:25a, “For he that hath, to him shall be given.” Is it not amazing that everything God created in the earth has a unique function? Ashes, which were a bane to many a furnace attender, actually was a much needed soil enhancement for the farmer. I am sure many a farmer wondered what he would do with the mound of ashes he had accumulated over the cold winter months. Funny thing, our heavenly Father knew all along that ashes on roses was a very good thing!
