Smelling the Flowers from Underground

I found this euphemism in a quote by Israeli photographer Dani Shimoni: "When I was a kid, I couldn’t wait for my chance to be a soldier. It’s crazy, it’s a sickness...but back then I thought that was the only way to survive here...Most people would rather go to war than give back land. But I don’t believe in the land, I believe in life. I have a lot of friends who are smelling the flowers from underground."