Posts Tagged ‘Folklore’
Welcome February with Cicely Mary Barker: the Fair Maids of February and the Snowdrop Fairy
“Cicely would draw the flowers and the fairies and then write poetry about them.” The English illustrator Cicely Mary Barker is remembered for depicting fairies and flowers. In Cicely’s fabulous fantasy world, every flower was granted its particular fairy to protect it from harm. For winter, Cicely created fairies and poems for these plants: Snowdrop,…
Read MoreThe Common Daisy (Bellis perennis)
by Susan Wittig Albert The Daisy’s genus name, Belis (martial or warlike), refers to its use by Roman doctors as a common treatment for battlefield wounds. John Gerard, the sixteenth-century herbalist and author of the first important herbal in English, wrote: “The leaves stamped take away bruises and swellings … whereupon it was called in…
Read MoreHow to Wassail Apple Trees on the 12th Night of Christmas
“Wassail means “good health,” by wassailing the apple trees, you wish for good tree health, fertility, and productivity.” In England, tonight, there’s an ancient custom – an old pagan ritual – that involves waking up the apple cider trees with wassailing on the 12th night of Christmas. The written folklore around wassailing says that if…
Read MoreNovember Folklore
Today’s Unearthed Words are a collection of folklore and sayings about November. Thunder in November, a fertile year to come. A heavy November snow will last till April. Flowers in bloom late in autumn indicate a bad winter. If there’s ice in November that will bear a duck, There’ll be nothing after but sludge and…
Read MoreJuly Folklore
by Anonymous Never trust a July sky. Never trust the sky in the month of July. As July, so next January. If the 1st of July be rainy weather, it will rain more or less for three weeks together. If ant hills are high in July, the coming winter will be hard. Whatever July and…
Read MoreFebruary 18, 2020 Sensitive Plant, Honey as a Root Stimulator, Valerius Cordus, Antoine Nicholas Duchesne, Adolphe-théodore Brongniart, the Lady’s Slipper, Winter Poetry, Beth Chatto’s Garden Notebook, Macrame 3-pack, and February Birth Flowers
Today we celebrate a man who wrote one of the most influential herbals in history and the French botanist who created the modern strawberry. We’ll learn about the Father of Paleobotany and the sweet little Orchid known as the moccasin flower. Today’s Unearthed Words feature words about winter. We Grow That Garden Library™ with the…
Read MoreIf There’s Ice in November
If there’s ice in November that will bear a duck, There’ll be nothing after but sludge and muck. Note: This is an English folk-lore rhyme, first printed c.1876. As featured onThe Daily Gardener podcast: Words inspired by the garden are the sweetest, most beautiful words of all.
Read MoreMichaelmas Folklore: Blackberries, the Devil, and a Lingering Curse
“Once he was cast out, Lucifer promptly fell straight into a blackberry bush, and a blackberry bush would not make for a soft landing. Incensed, Lucifer cursed the blackberry fruit, making them unfit for consumption.” September 29th Michaelmas is celebrated on September 29th every year. Since the Middle Ages, English farmers used Michaelmas to mark…
Read MoreThe Glowing Ruby
July Birthstone The glowing Ruby should adorn Those who in warm July are born, Then will they be exempt and free From love’s doubt and anxiety. As featured onThe Daily Gardener podcast: Words inspired by the garden are the sweetest, most beautiful words of all. Ruby
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