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Post by Bonobo on Jun 16, 2020 10:49:47 GMT 1
Despite the snowflakes in the air today where I live, I believe that spring has truly arrived. This year the proverbial ice saints period has come too, in late May. Human gardeners have suffered some losses. I lost fig buds. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_SaintsThe Ice Saints are St. Mamertus (or, in some countries, St. Boniface of Tarsus), St. Pancras, and St. Servatius. They are so named because their feast days fall on the days of May 11, May 12, and May 13 respectively, known as "the blackthorn winter" in Austrian, Belgian, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, French, German, Hungarian, North-Italian, Polish, Slovak, Slovene and Swiss folklore.
Folklore
In parts of the Northern Hemisphere, the period from May 12 to May 15 is often believed to bring a brief spell of colder weather in many years, including the last nightly frosts of the spring. Pupils of Galileo confirmed this weather pattern for the years 1655-70 and reported a marked cold snap over the days of the Ice Saints. However, in 1902 William Dines, President of the Royal Meteorological Society, used modern statistical techniques to demonstrate that the Ice Saints were a myth, brought about by selective reporting. On the other hand, a review of Kew Gardens data from 1941 to 1969 showed that 13 May was usually the warmest day of the month, and was followed by a sharp drop in temperature.[1]
In 1582, the replacement of the Julian calendar by the Gregorian calendar involved omitting 10 days in the calendar. So if the folklore predates the calendar change, then the equivalent dates from the climatic point of view would be May 22–25.
St. Mamertus is not counted amongst the Ice Saints in certain countries (Southern Germany, Austria, Northern Italy, Czech Republic, etc.), whereas St. Boniface of Tarsus belongs to them in other countries (Flanders, Liguria, Czech Republic, etc.) as well; St. Boniface's feast day falling on May 14. St. Sophia, nicknamed Cold Sophia (German kalte Sophie) on May 15 can be added in Germany, Alsace (France), Poland, etc.
In Poland and the Czech Republic, the Ice Saints are St. Pancras, St. Servatus and St. Boniface of Tarsus (i.e., May 12 to May 14). To the Poles, the trio are known collectively as zimni ogrodnicy (cold gardeners) and are followed by zimna Zośka (cold Sophia) on the feast day of St. Sophia, which falls on May 15. In Czech, the three saints are collectively referred to as "ledoví muži" (ice men or icy men) and St. Sophia is known as "Žofie, ledová žena" (Sophia, the ice woman).
In Sweden, the German legend of the Ice Saints has resulted in the belief that there are special "järnnätter" (Swedish for "iron nights") especially in early June, which are susceptible to frost. The term likely arose out of mistranslation of German sources, where the term "Eismänner" (German for "ice men") was read as "Eisenmänner" (German for "iron men") and their nights then termed "iron nights," which then became shifted from May to June.[2]  |
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Post by jeanne on Aug 5, 2020 19:54:16 GMT 1
We bought our first house (the one we still live in) in 1977. We "passed papers", or completed the sale on May 12th. I will never forget that two days before on May 10th, we had a snow storm. The trees were heavy with leaves already, so many had damage, or were toppled. In the yard of our new home, there was a lilac tree in full bloom before the storm...I was looking forward to being able to pick some of the lovely blossoms to bring in the house on our first day there; unfortunately, the flowers were all ruined by the cold and snow...
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Post by Bonobo on Aug 29, 2020 20:13:58 GMT 1
I was looking forward to being able to pick some of the lovely blossoms to bring in the house on our first day there; unfortunately, the flowers were all ruined by the cold and snow... I hope that despite that damage, it turned out to be a good omen for your dwelling there if you say you still live there. It was a sort of a test that nature performed on you - it checked if you were going to be really good, devoted, caring owners or just accidental tourists??? |
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Post by jeanne on Sept 12, 2020 22:29:20 GMT 1
I was looking forward to being able to pick some of the lovely blossoms to bring in the house on our first day there; unfortunately, the flowers were all ruined by the cold and snow... I hope that despite that damage, it turned out to be a good omen for your dwelling there if you say you still live there. It was a sort of a test that nature performed on you - it checked if you were going to be really good, devoted, caring owners or just accidental tourists??? No, there's no way you could call us "accidental tourists;" we are deeply "entrenched" in our house and neighborhood! There have been changes around us, but we are still there. At this point in my life, I can't imagine moving, whereas when I was much younger I wouldn't mind moving at all...
And, the lilac bush is still there and producing copious amounts of blossoms. After a couple of years I figured out that it wasn't an "old fashioned" lilac, but a newer hybrid one, designed to produce more blossoms. Unfortunately, I could tell the blossoms did not have the same aroma as a "true" lilac and I started wishing I had the old-fashioned kind that I knew from my childhood. When my daughter and her husband bought their old farmhouse in Vermont, there was a very old lilac bush that had been there for years. I dug up a couple of shoots from that and brought it home and planted them. In the five or six years it's been here, it is thriving and growing tall. I have refrained from cutting any blossoms until this year in order to let it get established. But I did cut some blossoms this year and bring them into the house. It was wonderful to once again experience one of the delights of my childhood.
Now I have the hybrid still growing in the yard and looking pretty, and the old-fashioned, "real" lilac both looking pretty and smelling divine...so I'm happy...  |
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Post by Bonobo on Sept 13, 2020 14:48:10 GMT 1
now I have the hybrid still growing in the yard and looking pretty, and the old-fashioned, "real" lilac both looking pretty and smelling divine...so I'm happy... [/div][/quote] That`s the problem - better is the enemy of good. Those improvements are never perfect - there is always sth missing. |
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Post by jeanne on Sept 13, 2020 19:24:51 GMT 1
now I have the hybrid still growing in the yard and looking pretty, and the old-fashioned, "real" lilac both looking pretty and smelling divine...so I'm happy... [/div][/quote] That`s the problem - better is the enemy of good. Those improvements are never perfect - there is always sth missing. [/quote] I agree! I don't think we should be messing with Mother Nature, and I'm sure you have the saying that we do: If it's not broken, don't fix it!  |
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