Floramorial™ is a whole new way of thinking about memorialization.

Cremation ash can now be used to grow trees and flowers.
Floramorial soil was created to convert cremation ash into a planting medium to grow a decorative plant, bush or tree as a living memorial. Cremation ash is an inert, granular material like stone or sand that can now be transformed into plant food thanks to recent developments in horticultural science.

This is an exciting new answer to the question, “What should I do with the ashes?” Floramorial soil opens up a universe of floral species which can be used to commemorate the life of your loved one.

Origin of Floramorial, Inc.

Floramorial begins as a mixture of plant nutrients, cremation ash and a catalyst (MPS), which converts the ash into plant food. Plants rooted in Floramorial soil absorb this newly created plant food through their root system. The cremation ash thus becomes part of a living memorial.

The idea that became Floramorial, Inc. began with the statement, “Turn me into a rosebush.” Marge Strand, a woman dying of cancer, requested that her husband use her ashes to nourish her favorite flower. After her death, her husband discovered that cremation ash was mostly calcium (rock) phosphate, a stone-like, inert, insoluble material that would not support plant life. The quest began to develop a method of converting ashes into a viable plant food.

The Science of Floramorial

Further study revealed how naturally occurring rock phosphate is processed in high temperature sulfuric acid to convert it into soluble orthophosphate plant food. In order to use Marge Strand’s ashes to grow a rosebush, her husband, Frank, had to find a way to solubilize rock phosphate without resorting to the complexity and hazards of high temperature and highly potent industrial acid. With a background in electrochemistry to guide his research, Frank Strand and his son Roger developed a planting soil containing a catalyst which liberated phosphorous from its calcium bond to become plant food.

The first Floramorial planting medium is now used to nourish a rosebush on the grounds of a church where Marge and her mother, Angeline, worshiped years ago. The Floramorial soil contains a mixture of both Marge’s and her mother’s ashes.

During the two years of research and development, Frank and Roger’s work attracted the attention of a growing list of family and friends, most of whom expressed the desire to include the idea in their own plans. Encouraged by the response, Roger accepted the challenge to bring Floramorial to the cremation market.