Plant and Tree Lore

Trees, flowers and greenery: bringing in the may, oak apples, rushbearing, holly and ivy.

Customs

The year ahead

Monday 26 October Hunter’s Moon

Monday 9 November New moon

Tuesday 24 November Beaver Moon

Wednesday 9 December New moon

Thursday 24 December Cold Moon

Sunday 3 January

Sun 3 Jan from 12:00
Custom

Bankside Twelfth Night

Shakespeare’s Globe, London, Greater London

Thursday 7 January New moon

Saturday 9 January

Sat 9 Jan 17:30 21:00
Custom

Much Marcle Wassail at Westons

Westons Cider Visitor Centre, Much Marcle, Herefordshire

Saturday 16 January

Sat 16 Jan from 18:30
Custom

Carhampton Wassail

Butchers Arms, Carhampton, Somerset

Monday 18 January

Mon 18 Jan from 18:30
Custom

Whimple Wassail

Whimple Heritage Centre, Whimple, Devon

Friday 22 January Wolf Moon

Saturday 23 January

Sat 23 Jan 12:30 18:00
Custom

Chepstow Wassail and Mari Lwyd

Chepstow Museum, Chepstow, Monmouthshire

Saturday 6 February New moon

Saturday 20 February Snow Moon

Monday 8 March New moon

Monday 22 March Worm Moon

Tuesday 6 April New moon

Tuesday 20 April Pink Moon

Monday 3 May

Mon 3 May 12:00 15:00
Custom

Laa Boaldyn at Cregneash

Cregneash Folk Village, Cregneash, Isle of Man

Thursday 6 May New moon

Thu 6 May from 11:00
Custom, day 1 of 7

Tissington Well Dressing

St Mary’s Church, Tissington, Derbyshire

Friday 7 May

Fri 7 May Tissington Well Dressing day 2 of 7 · From 11:00

Saturday 8 May

Sat 8 May from 07:00
Custom

Helston Flora Day

Guildhall, Helston, Cornwall
Sat 8 May Tissington Well Dressing day 3 of 7 · From 11:00

Sunday 9 May

Sun 9 May Tissington Well Dressing day 4 of 7 · From 11:00

Monday 10 May

Mon 10 May Tissington Well Dressing day 5 of 7 · From 11:00

Tuesday 11 May

Tue 11 May Tissington Well Dressing day 6 of 7 · From 11:00

Wednesday 12 May

Wed 12 May Tissington Well Dressing day 7 of 7 · From 11:00

Thursday 20 May Flower Moon

Saturday 29 May

Sat 29 May from 18:30
Custom

Castleton Garland Day

Sets off from Market Place, Castleton, Derbyshire

Friday 4 June New moon

Saturday 19 June Strawberry Moon

Sunday 4 July New moon

Saturday 10 July

Sat 10 Jul from 15:00
Custom

Grasmere Rushbearing

St Oswald’s Church, Grasmere, Cumbria

Sunday 18 July Buck Moon

Monday 2 August New moon

Friday 13 August

Fri 13 Aug 09:00 18:00
Custom

The Burryman

Staghead Hotel, South Queensferry, City of Edinburgh

Tuesday 17 August Sturgeon Moon

Tuesday 31 August New moon

Saturday 4 September

Sat 4 Sep 10:00 18:00
Custom, day 1 of 2

Sowerby Bridge Rushbearing

St John the Evangelist Church, Warley, West Yorkshire

Sunday 5 September

Sun 5 Sep Sowerby Bridge Rushbearing day 2 of 2 · 10:00–18:00

Wednesday 15 September Harvest Moon

Thursday 30 September New moon

Friday 15 October Hunter’s Moon

From the old calendars

1 to 25 of 26 entries in June

58 days after Easter

Corpus Christi

11 June

23 June

Folklore from the old calendars

Birch trees at the Chester doors No longer kept CheshireOn St John the Baptist's Eve the people of Chester brought in a multitude of young birch trees and planted them before their doors to wither.
Catching fern seed Lore and belief EnglandBecause the seed of the fern is too small to see, people reasoned that whoever held it would become invisible.
Fires to bless the apples No longer kept Herefordshire, SomersetOn Midsummer Eve people in Herefordshire and Somerset lit fires in the fields and along the lanes to bless the apples.
Green birch on the sign-posts at Little Brickhill No longer kept Buckinghamshire, LondonThe herbalist William Coles remembered riding through Little Brickhill, a town on the London road between Dunstable and Stony Stratford, and finding nearly every sign-post decked with green birch.
Midsummer men Lore and belief EnglandOn Midsummer Eve girls set sprigs of orpine in clay on a slate or potsherd and called them Midsummer men.
St John’s wort over the Welsh door No longer kept WalesPennant's manuscript notes that in Wales people had the custom of sticking St John's wort over their doors on the eve of St John the Baptist.
The Midsummer rose Lore and belief EnglandAmong the Midsummer Eve charms that a girl in the Connoisseur owned to trying was the rose.

the first Tuesday on or after 17 June

24 June

Folklore from the old calendars

A chaplet of roses at Tong No longer kept ShropshireEvery year a garland of flowers was placed on the effigy of a Vernon in Tong church.
A coal under the plantain root Lore and belief LondonAt noon on Midsummer Day 1694 Aubrey came upon twenty-two or twenty-three young women, most of them well dressed, on their knees in the pasture behind Montague House as if they were weeding.
A red rose for Highhead at Midsummer No longer kept CumberlandIn the reign of Edward III Highhead Castle, near Dalston, was held by the service of bringing a red rose to the king's exchequer in Carlisle every year on the feast of St John the Baptist.
Crowning the tin-mine poles No longer kept CornwallIn Cornwall the boundary of each tin mine was marked by a long pole with a bush at the top.
Elder flowers from Midsummer Day Lore and belief EnglandElder flowers gathered on Midsummer Day, dried and powdered, were a receipt for keeping young.
Midsummer boughs at the stall door Lore and belief EnglandReginald Scot, listing the charms people used against witches, wrote that they hung boughs hallowed on Midsummer Day at the door of the stall where the cattle stood.
Midsummer cushions No longer kept NorthumberlandIn Northumberland on Midsummer Day stools were dressed with a cushion of flowers.
St John’s great candlestick Lore and belief EnglandThe scarlet lychnis, which flowered about 24 June, was the flower of St John the Baptist's feast.
St John’s worts on the rafters Lore and belief WalesAs late as the middle of the nineteenth century Welsh households foretold who would die first by hanging St John's worts from the rafters, one named for each person in the house.
The sermon in green boughs Still kept OxfordshireOn St John the Baptist's Day a sermon was preached at Magdalen College from a stone pulpit in the corner of the first court, and the court was hung with green boughs so that the preaching would look like the Baptist's in the wilderness.

Customs

Monday 26 October🌕 Hunter’s Moon

Monday 9 November🌑 New moon

Tuesday 24 November🌕 Beaver Moon

Wednesday 9 December🌑 New moon

Thursday 24 December🌕 Cold Moon

Sunday 3 January

Thursday 7 January🌑 New moon

Saturday 9 January

Saturday 16 January

Monday 18 January

Friday 22 January🌕 Wolf Moon

Saturday 23 January

Saturday 6 February🌑 New moon

Saturday 20 February🌕 Snow Moon

Monday 8 March🌑 New moon

Monday 22 March🌕 Worm Moon

Tuesday 6 April🌑 New moon

Tuesday 20 April🌕 Pink Moon

Monday 3 May

Thursday 6 May🌑 New moon

Friday 7 May

Saturday 8 May

Sunday 9 May

Monday 10 May

Tuesday 11 May

Wednesday 12 May

Thursday 20 May🌕 Flower Moon

Saturday 29 May

Friday 4 June🌑 New moon

Saturday 19 June🌕 Strawberry Moon

Sunday 4 July🌑 New moon

Saturday 10 July

Sunday 18 July🌕 Buck Moon

Monday 2 August🌑 New moon

Friday 13 August

Tuesday 17 August🌕 Sturgeon Moon

Tuesday 31 August🌑 New moon

Saturday 4 September

Sunday 5 September

Wednesday 15 September🌕 Harvest Moon

Thursday 30 September🌑 New moon

Friday 15 October🌕 Hunter’s Moon

From the old calendars

58 days after Easter

Corpus Christi

11 June

23 June

the first Tuesday on or after 17 June

24 June

24 June, not tied to the day

Image credits

Monday 26 October Hunter’s Moon

Monday 9 November New moon

Tuesday 24 November Beaver Moon

Wednesday 9 December New moon

Thursday 24 December Cold Moon

Thursday 7 January New moon

Friday 22 January Wolf Moon

Saturday 6 February New moon

Saturday 20 February Snow Moon

Monday 8 March New moon

Monday 22 March Worm Moon

Tuesday 6 April New moon

Tuesday 20 April Pink Moon

Thursday 6 May New moon

Thursday 20 May Flower Moon

Friday 4 June New moon

Saturday 19 June Strawberry Moon

Sunday 4 July New moon

Sunday 18 July Buck Moon

Monday 2 August New moon

Tuesday 17 August Sturgeon Moon

Tuesday 31 August New moon

Wednesday 15 September Harvest Moon

Thursday 30 September New moon

Friday 15 October Hunter’s Moon