This is indeed a strange problem. I went ahead and placed it onto a flat plane and I actually liked the way it turned out. Manipulating the plane was a chore in itself for some odd reason. But in any event, I'll try your suggestion on my next render. In the meantime, I'm posting the finished picture in my gallery now. Please have a look if you'd like.

Here's the link to my freebies:   https://www.renderosity.com/mod/freestuff/?uid=493127

My cousin Jack can speak to beans. That's right.... Jack and the beans talk